The Temptations of Evil
by thriller
Summary: Rogue, Kitty, Lexa and Wanda were taken and became weapons of evil. When they can go back to their old life will they accept or is the temptation of evil too good? ROMY LANCITTY XIETRO and JONDA! Also ANLOCKE and COLARIS :Colossus.Polaris: :Piotr.Lorna:
1. the Untouchable Rogue

Heya! I thought hell – lets look back at this first ever chapter and so I have now decided that I shall rewrite it – I'll keep most things the same, I just wanted to improve. Hope you like! Please review! (If you've already reviewed then leave me one under 'anonymous' with your usual penname, ta!)

_**Summary**_; can a single person change the minds and lives of four of the most stubborn girls known to mutant kind? Rogue, Kitty, Lexa and Wanda have been captured and are being trained to be weapons of evil. But when a chance arises for them to escape and return to the lives they previously had will they accept? Or is the offer of evil too tempting to resist? ROMY, LANCITTY, X-IETRO and JONDA!

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

_Written letters or notes are underlined_

_"Telepathic thoughts and the other line of the phone is in Italics and speech marks _"

The Temptations of Evil

Chapter 1

VvV the Untouchable; Rogue VvV

Darkness. Enshrouding the girl in it's complete emptiness, she found herself alone…helpless…defenceless even. Everything was not as it seemed though – even though Rogue heard nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing even, deep down she knew that – in a way – she wasn't alone. Cameras were situated in every corner of this…place? Was that what you could call a cell?

Jail? Was that where she was? The questions poured through Rogue's mind like unsolved mysterious are filed in police headquarters…would her strange disappearance become one of them?

Surely by now the Xmen would notice the fact that they were missing one of their own…although there were so many at the Mansion now that Rogue doubted anybody would notice her disappearance for a while. Yet it was difficult to miss _two_ Xmen.

Because Rogue knew she was not the only one to have been taken.

The proof was in the painting as a pair of doors swung open, held so by two guards that soon accompanied a third down the dark and dismal hallway: lit only by the light spilling in. From this abysmal amount of light though, Rogue could make out the girl that one man was carrying – lifted over a single shoulder, lifeless, limp; her eyes shut. Frail and delicate, Kitty swung slightly as she was marched down the corridor, unconscious. Using flashlights when the doors snapped shut behind the men was so they could find their way to a cell not far down from Rogue's. Lightly dropping their cargo onto a bed, ignoring the thud, the men then turned around and backed out of the barred cage.

Yet before the guards could pass Rogue's own 'room' she composed herself, pulling a blank face, emotionless, one that had been practised many a time. And as a flashlight was swung at the girl the guards saw only a dull, lifeless look in Rogue's eyes that they frowned at.

Looking down at the girl, one leant over to the other whilst Rogue watched them, giving both an unnerving, bland stare that neither could return. One of the guard's whispered quietly, yet it was easy to overhear her; "that's the untouchable, you know…" and obviously by the guard's nod, he did know of her. "We had difficulty with her…you should have heard Mike; he can't stop going on about it…the devil in disguise she is…"

Rogue lay back onto her solid bed, shaking her platinum locks out of her eyes that began slowly to drift shut, whilst sleep claimed her tired body into dreams of the prison cell and the memories surrounding it.

VvV _**Flashback**_ VvV

Owls hooted. The wind whispered sweet nothings into the still night air, quiet and sublime in the peaceful nature of the area…the peaceful presence.

All too soon it changed.

Joyfully chatting away, a girl rounded the corner, pausing to turn back on the spot as her eyes found her companion again, waiting for the older girl to catch up – quiet and resolute in her dissimilar calmness. Rogue's silence was contrasted by the non-stop babble seeming to spill endlessly from Kitty's mouth as the young girl chatted away, entertaining her bored friend with talk of nothingness and her endless information of the unimportant things in life.

Upon rounding the corner however, Rogue halted in her tracks and froze; head poised in a direction she could not make out: north? South? East? West? What did it matter…something was wrong and Rogue could tell that from every direction she looked – from behind herself she felt chills creeping up on her as the paranoia of a stalker entranced her mind. Whilst in front…in front she felt the fear of walking on.

Unnerving silence. It spread over the once noisy, flooded spot – flooded by lights, street lamps…that mysteriously, suddenly switched off. Something was wrong.

It wasn't hard to tell – even Kitty noticed and in her absence of chatter Rogue heard the sound of almost silent footsteps drawing closer. "_Stay where you are Kitty_…_it's alright…_" comforted the normally fear-free girl in a whisper, whilst feeling fright pricking her as Goosebumps erupted everywhere. The one thought comforting Rogue's mind; if she stayed where she was they wouldn't be able to find her…in her silence whom ever 'they' were could not sense her out. But Kitty…it was only so long that she could stay silenced in a panicked situation and already the young girl's breathing was becoming deafening, her heartbeat racing like runners' in the finale of a race.

Because whatever this was…it would soon be over. And not in a good way, Rogue predicted.

Kicking in, in Rogue's alertness, Logan's enhanced senses picked up footsteps and the clink of metal, the switch of the weight of a gun from one arm to the other. Superb smelling taught Rogue that there were numerous of the men…for she could smell man…almost hear concentration…taste fear.

Or was that her own fear? Fright was inescapable as Katherine Pryde made the worst mistake of her life; she backed straight into Rogue. In a blinding fight the two girls fell to the ground in a heap, Kitty's squealing deafening the sound of her scrabbling to gain control of the situation. Whilst all Rogue could care about was what she was wearing.

Was the outfit enough…was there protection enough?

Kitty's gasp signalled the answer when Rogue felt skin brush against her own as the smaller girl collapsed, Kitty's eyes closing to the light that blinded Rogue as a torchlight shone in their direction.

Driving her to unknowingly activate her new power, the terror filling Rogue caused the girl to stand, allowing her fellow mutant, Kitty, to slip through her body as numerous strange bullets slipped straight through Rogue.

"Hold your fire!" Yelled a voice nearby, and it caused Rogue to halt too, freezing the girl in place as her eyes sought out the people surrounding her. If she were clever, Rogue would have ran – nobody could stop the corporally intangible apart from herself – but nerves shut down all reasoning within the girl and she could only stand there.

Taking what seemed hours, Rogue's courage suddenly surfaced and she took a step backwards, meaning to run, to leave, but tripped slightly on Kitty who simply turned unwillingly, unconsciously over onto her face, unaware of the current danger. And now Rogue knew she couldn't leave: a coward would leave her friend, _per contra_ Rogue was no coward; she would fight till the death.

Meaning to do just that…the girl jumped, foot swung out in an attempt to hit the first thing it came into contact with…but a dart-like bullet hit her now tangible leg first. Collapsing in a less than ladylike manner on the ground, Rogue's faced twisted in a vicious snarl and she raised herself again, swaying drowsily as another dart hit the girl in the arm. Yet the Goth wrenched it out, uncaring for this equipment…healing would kick in soon…soon…she hoped.

But Rogue was too tired…her abilities were failing her. Giving in though; that was not an option and Rogue proved she meant business as her foot landed squarely in the chest of a different man…at the exact time a dart hit the girl in the neck.

Overpowering her, the sleeping draft intoxicated Rogue like a venom and she succumbed to unnatural sleep…

VvV _**End of Flashback**_ VvV

The thought of this end; a weak and suffering Rogue pulled the present Rogue from her dream, panting, delirious and unsure as to her surroundings. Only the lack of light held any recognition and Rogue took it in, feeling as lonely…helpless…and defenceless as before…

**End of Chapter**

Well, I so hope that you liked the new chapter 1 – new and improved (I think, lol!) What do you think? Like? No/Yes? Why? Tell me, i.e. REVIEW! .x.thriller.x.


	2. the Valley Girl’s View

Heya! How's you all doing! Hope you're all good! A little response section to all of my adored reviewers (I adore you! THANK YOU 4 REVIEWING! I LOVE YOU ALL! (I'm v.v. hyper at the moment!))

**Kathrine212:** Thank you for being my first _The Temptations of Evil_ reviewer, I am very grateful. I am glad that my story doesn't sound bad, and I sincerely hope that you will carry on reading xxx

**Magcat: **I am glad that you thought my story "wasn't bad at all." I love your story _Unification_, so different and unique; love it! It's on my faves!

In response to your question: I'm not sure. The girls will not be brainwashed; they will be persuaded, kind of forcefully. I'm planning to have Kitty reject it all, but in the end be persuaded by the others. I had to add her in because she's so innocent and it will be interesting to see her bad side (everyone has one!) xxx

**Sheisbeautiful-sheisnotme: **Good, I am glad you like, even better that you like very much so. Don't worry I'm trying my hardest to keep it up, but with GCSE and so much homework that I could die from the strain, it's kind of difficult, but I'm trying! xxx

**Musagirl15: **I am so happy that it sounds interesting!

Don't you just love LANCITTY! It is so sweet, coz Lance is adorable, and a hunk too! xxx

ENJOY!

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

Chapter 2

VvV the Valley Girl's View VvV

I blinked, twice, and my surroundings began to come into focus. I sat up, confused and stared about me, at the grey, plain cell that I now sat in. As I shook my head, my surroundings became clearer and less blurred, but as I did so a dull throbbing pain started in my head.

As I stood to get a better view of my cell, everything became dizzy and I was so woozy that I collapsed onto the floor.

I then remember some men coming into the cell; they looked at me, lying on the ground, squinting up at them, as the pain in my head became unbearable. I heard one of them speak, but I didn't know what it was that they said; my head was too tired and sore to focus.

Then one of them crouched down at my level and as he did, light reflected off of something shiny and I only realised what it was when someone had stuck the needle into my arm. I had cried out in shock, and then whimpered in pain as my head began to throb harder. Then another needle was stuck in me, and I knew that it was a sleeping drug as I started to feel woozy again, and then I knew nothing more as my world became darkness.

I dreamt of Lance, and of everyone in the institute, that's all I remember. Well, I remember one of my dreams; I was dreaming of Rogue and me sitting in our room, we were talking about life and what to do with it. I remember something that she told me and then and as I began to wake up I spoke Rogue's words to myself;

"A cage is how ya see it, Kitty. If ya see it as a prison then everyday it will feel lahke it is shrinkin' on ya, contracting until there's no room ta move.

But if ya see it as a temporarahy (temporary) room, somethahng that is there simply ta keep you in one place, then it'll seem so much bigger and more spacious.

If a cup is half filled with water, is it half empty or half full? Ah know which way ah'd prefer ta see it. But which way would ya?"

As I spoke the words I became fully conscious and remembered what had happened to me before. Shaking my head, I began to look around my prison cell and walked where my eyes led me.

It was very basic; a toilet in one corner with a basin standing next to it, a little table in the middle with a chair tucked into it. Then I spotted a bed in another corner and walked over to it, as I sat down heavily onto it my head jarred due to how solid the mattress was. All of my room was plain white and very dull.

I stood and walked over to the solid iron bars that were the front of my prison. Peering out, I looked down the empty hallway that my cell was based in and noted how dirty it looked; as if a lot of people had walked down it in very muddy boots, continually. It was white as well, but not exactly white. Nothing was exactly white, it looked white but the colour was too dirty to be white, it was a kind of…dirty white. But everything was the same colour, just white all around.

I sighed and spoke into the silent emptiness; "like, what is with the white? It's, like, totally dreary and it's freakin' me out, it makes me feel like I'm in an insane asylum or something like that."

"Oh yeh, real good reviews Kitty, typical Valley Girl views. Ah'm so interested in tha colour, naht (not.)"

I jumped as a southern drawl answered my comment and then recognised the voice, straining my neck around trying desperately hard to see the speaker, and then I spotted her.

"ROGUE!" I yelled, and grabbed hold of the bars in front of me, trying to break through them so that I could run to the Goth and hug her, I was so happy to see her!

"Hold yaself Kitty, ya need mohre (more) restraint gahl (girl)." I watched as Rogue shook her head in amusement but then we both froze as a door slammed open and two people entered the corridor.

We watched them as they walked past us both, turning their heads to look at us. Then one of them opened another cell next to Rogue's, the cell opposite mine, and they then stood back and let the person who had followed deposit his load onto the floor, with a thump that made me wince in pity.

It wasn't until they had gone that I dared speak out loud, and I spoke the one word that I knew Rogue would have said if I had not; "Wanda?"

The End

Great way to bring in Wanda, no! If you don't agree well boo-sucks-to-you! Hahahahaha! Only kidding, if you didn't think it was a good way, why? And if you did tell me anyway!


	3. Insanity is a Curse

All right! Chapter 3, almost up and loaded, I only wish that some of the authors of my fave stories would upload as quick. But _Ho-hum-pig's-bum _that's life for ya. Right, Wanda's chapter now and a quick reminder of what's happening and then my responses to all of my adored reviewers!

Reminder; _The last chapter was Kitty's views on the prison. Then she discovered Rogue, and the girls where just having a chat when they were interrupted. Three guards came in, and whom did they have with them but…Wanda!_

Responses;

**Kathrine212: **I think that I'll explain how the girls were captured later on, but I'm sorry because I don't plan it to be in any chapter soon.

Glad you like how Wanda was introduced, and if Kitty and Rogue were asleep I would have put something in an author's view like:

"_Kitty and Rogue slept peacefully, unaware as a third guest was deposited in a cell very close by, a guest by the name of Wanda." _xxx

**Sheisbeautiful-sheisnotme: **I'm glad you liked it too, oh and what's a sadist? Sorry to disappoint you but I don't think there will be much torture…on the girls half anyway, I'm not saying they wont cause it!

Yeh, the x-men are gonna notice the girls are missing but they wont know where and how, so…they'll find out in later chapters and so will you. xxx

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

Chapter 2

VvV Insanity is a Curse with an Unwanted Consequence VvV

I looked around the prison cell, my eyes wide and tearful. 'No, no! I won't cry! I can't! Oh god, get me out of here! Don't cry!' the tears welled and threatened to spill, but I blinked them away, pushing them back, 'mustn't cry, mustn't cry!'

I looked up as Kitty spoke my name,

"Wanda? Are you all right? Wanda? Wanda, are you awake?"

But I ignored her; scared that if I spoke the tears would fall.

I couldn't stand it when I woke; I opened my eyes and a few moments later I felt a needle prick my arm. It reminded me so much of the asylum; the years I spent going more insane as every day passed, my life controlled by the constant fear created by those who kept me imprisoned. I would sit in my cell, shivering with fright, praying that no one would see me today, no tests, no talks, just for them to leave me alone.

But my prayers were never answered; the men, they came and would go, leaving me in fear of their next visit. The doctors; they would always experiment on me and talk to me, trying to understand the things I was going through. But they never understood that it was them that had ruined my life, not the imaginary insanity created by my father.

Every day in that cell was pain, every week was torture, every month was hell and by every year I would be the living dead; driven insane by the non-existent insanity, which cursed me.

Insanity is the curse we do not speak and its consequence is the hell we fear. Yet that insanity has been spoken of me, and that consequence I have feared, my mind repeatedly playing over that day, when my father told me we were going on a day trip, yet he never told me that I wouldn't return home from it.

I can still see Pietro; his eyes wide with the fright that had captured me, as the men in white cloaks came and pulled me away, imprisoning me in my own mind.

But then Mystique came, and she freed me, finally I was no longer in the grasps of those who had haunted my sleep and it was all over. Or so I thought.

As I sat in my new cell, the thoughts came racing back to me and I heard myself sob, ever so quietly and the tears were unleashed, falling down my pale face and splashing on the floor.

I was so rapped up in my own misery I did not hear as Kitty and Rogue whispered to each other, their pity welling for me. And if I had been paying attention I would have heard as their voices stopped, and would have seen the reason. But I only realised the corridor was occupied as footsteps began to echo down it.

I stayed, seated on the hard bed, which was so similar to that of my asylum cells. But my head lifted from my hands and I watched as a person walked past my cell to the one next to Kitty's, and unlocked it, but nothing was deposited. Instead the man turned and walked back up the corridor speaking to someone I couldn't see.

"Come on! Come on! She can't be that much work. Come on, drag her in. For heavens sake, hurry up." And the man sighed and went back up the corridor, through the doors at the end and into the darkness beyond.

Then a scuffling sound was heard and the same person entered again, helping four others carry in a girl.

She looked my age; 18, and she had midnight blue hair that glinted in the light. She was quite tall and slim, and rather pretty looking, 'Pietro would like her, that's for sure.'

Unlike how I had been when I first entered the corridor, she was awake, and she pulled on the men grasping on to her arms, trying to free herself, shouting and swearing at them. But it was no use, she was thrown into the cell and it was locked, leaving her breathing heavily and still yelling profusely at them all.

I smirked, 'that is what I would of done; put up a good fight. Well, I would of, if I wasn't sedated. I wonder why she wasn't sedated?" The question puzzled me, but then I saw one of the men looking at me and I lay down on my bed; encasing myself again in my own self-pity.

The End

Awww, poor Wanda. A bit of drama in that chapter, and I hoped you enjoyed.

Now then, Rogue, Kitty and Wanda don't know Lexa, because she never joined the x-men and didn't meet the brotherhood. She's met Rogue and Kitty; episodes X-23 and Target X. But, even though she has met them, Rogue and Kitty don't recognise her because they never got a proper look. So…next chapter is all for Lexa, enjoy!

Ps. In this story and all my others Lexa is 18, unlike when she is in x-men evolution she is 14, so in my X-IETRO ONESHOT, _Pleasurable Hauntings, _they can have sex because she is of age.

Anyway, like I said, ENJOY the next chapter (when it's loaded.)


	4. Sedating a Weapon

Hello, hello, hello! Response time! YAY!

**Sheisbeautiful-sheisnotme: **hey hun, thanks for your review, I am so glad that somebody keeps reviewing; I have over 300 hits in total for my story, yet only 12 reviews!

Are you really a sadist? Well, if you are, you should check out a new story I'm doing! Somebody gets murdered in a horrific way, (you'll have to read it to find out how) and the culprit is asked to join Xavier's institute!

Hope you enjoy my newest chapter, oh and Rogue and Kitty didn't get a good look at Lexa coz I say so! ;P xxx

**Kathrine212: **Yup, so now its Lexa's moment of glory. Yes, in this chapter, just to please you; I'll explain how the girls got there. I'm still not explaining why they're there yet.

I am glad you think my story is good reading! YAY! But what do you mean you don't know it? I'm very confused, please explain, it isn't a good idea to get me confused, trust me; when I get confused I GET confused! xxx

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

Chapter 4

VvV Sedating a Weapon VvV

"Lexa Howlett."

I sat on the train opposite an elderly woman and answered her question. She smiled at me, glad that I was being polite, which she obviously thinks I am. But I'm not like that, god no; I'm a stubborn, cocky, arrogant, dangerous and twisted 18-year-old.

Of course, I didn't want a little, old lady like her knowing that; she'd just give me those nasty looks every time she thought I couldn't see her. So when she asked me my name, I answered, surprising even myself; I hate strangers.

She spoke again in that sugary voice and I forced myself to look at her. "That's a very pretty name, dear. For a very pretty young girl." And she smiled at me in that sweet way that made me want to slice off that sugary sweet head of hers.

Resisting the urge to snort with laughter at her comment, I thanked her and returned to my papers.

Well, that's not entirely true, see they're not my papers, they're just papers about me. Taken from the clutches of Hydra, literally; I stole them from a security guard, once my claws were safely in his gut of course. They are very handy, just amazing how much information a little piece of paper can hold, such as, all the known bases of Hydra in Idaho, and that's where I'm heading. I'm sitting on a train, opposite this old lady, heading from Utah to Idaho. And you know where I am heading? To another Hydra base, and when I get there it's gonna go up before anyone will notice I've been.

I snickered out loud, my thoughts racked with the explosion I was going to create and to my unfortunate displeasure the old lady heard, but luckily she thought it was something I had read on my papers.

"What's that you're reading dear? Is it a comedy?" She leant forward towards me, and tried to read my papers.

I drew back and looked around, and to my horror it seemed almost everyone in the carriage was listening to our conversation. So I just nodded and began to put them away, but before I even managed to open my rucksack some arrogant teenagers behind me spoke up and snatched the papers out of my hand.

"Lets have a look." One said and began to flick through the pages. "Ooh, what's this!" he said, and began to read out loud to the whole carriage, who were all listening to every word he said.

"Weapon X has finally been successfully cloned. After 22 failed attempts we finally managed to discover the solution to create the perfect clone; Weapon X's healing factor. The mutant ability to heal himself when partially or severely injured.

The 23rd clone was a complete success; she now has the ability to heal herself and also has an adamantium skeleton.

As well as this when cloning Weapon X we implanted his heightened senses into the clone and used the same basis of adamantium claws. However, unlike Weapon X we have given the clone only two claws in each hand and added an additional foot claw in each foot.

Due to the fact that she is the 23rd attempted Weapon we have therefore named her X-23, and her codename is; Lexa Howlett."

The boy finished his little speech and looked up, surprised, holding a picture of me, over which a little caption said:

"Lexa Howlett, aka. X-23"

The whole carriage looked back and forth between the picture and me and I knew I was in deep shit. As quick as lightning, I grabbed the papers and smashed my way through the train window. I heard the commotion in the carriage as I landed on the ground, but didn't look back as I ran into the woods either side of the railway line.

VvVvVvV

"Finally, home sweet home." I said out loud to myself as I stood in front of the final Hydra base in Idaho. The others had all been destroyed and, as I said to myself, "only one to go."

VvV Flashback VvV 

The scene flashes quickly to a very boring, stone building. You can only see it for four seconds before it explodes.

VvVvVvV

The scene flashes to another stone building and the same happens.

VvVvVvV

The scene flashes to an identical stone building, which also blows up.

VvVvVvV

The flashback scene now shows X-23 running around a stone room, attaching small, circular, grey devices to the walls. Someone enters the room and X-23 hides. Then when the person goes to examine the devices, he feels a sharp pain in his stomach and looks down, only to see two metal claws poking through, and a lot of blood spilling from the wound. As his body turns limp, X-23 pulls the claws out and you see her run out of the room into a long, stone corridor.

Then the scene shows X-23 now outside and running away from the building. She runs into some bushes and takes a remote from her rucksack. Then she presses a button and immediately the stone building in front of her blows up.

VvV End of Flashback VvV

I laughed to myself and smirked at the explosions I remembered, but then my face turned sour when I remembered the train and what had happened when I had laughed out loud. I looked around to make sure that no one had heard me and sighed at my relief.

Then, as stealthily as I could, I crept towards the building, but my relief was short lived. A camera; on the end of a 30 foot pole, too high for even me to jump. It turned and, to my horror, it focused on me.

I hadn't even reacted when an alarm went off, a loud booming horn sounded throughout the empty courtyard in which I was standing and I ran, again, into the bushes that I had just come from. I ran through the dense forests surrounding the Hydra base, yet no matter how fast I ran, I could always hear the barks that sounded from the released dogs.

Then as I entered a clearing, so did a bloodhound that had chased me, a vicious looking thing, so thin and scrawny; I could tell it had been half-starved. But I wasn't waiting to become it's first meal in I didn't know how long.

Jumping up at a tree that stood next to me; I stuck my claws in it's trunk and then took one out, putting it in the trunk a bit higher, sticking my foot claws into the trunk, moving the left foot with the left hand. Moving each claw higher up the tree, I managed to scale it without problem and eventually reached a sturdy looking branch, which I crawled onto. Then, swinging myself underneath it, I stuck in my hand claws and then began to take one out at a time, moving them forward, until I was at the edge of the branch.

I then looked down, and smirked at the Hydra security all waiting for me, I knew they had sent for help; by the way they were all standing so patiently. But they didn't act s patient it when I swung myself onto a branch a few feet away.

I scaled my way along it, balancing as well as a gymnast, thinking what good use my stealth training was. Using this method of scaling along the branches I had soon got away from the Hydra people, they had tried to follow, but i could cover ground much quicker in the branches.

Finally, when I could no longer hear the sound of a bark, not even with my heightened hearing, I dropped off of the branch and landed cat-like, on my feet. Then standing up, I once again disappeared into the surrounding forest.

VvVvVvV

It was a few days later when I made my second attempt, I knew it was foolish to attack so soon; Hydra's would be on the lookout, waiting for an attack they knew would come. But I was impatient and I wanted the job over and done with. But this time, I swore I would make no mistake, and I didn't.

Scaling the rooftops I managed to slice a circle in a roof window, using my claws, which was big enough for me to drop through. I entered the building and in less than an hour it was covered with my bombs and dead bodies.

I had escaped and ran to the forest when it happened; the base blew up on the command of my remote and I turned to run into the dense forestry that surrounded me. Yet the sweat that covered my body and the blood that covered my shoes hid the scent of a trap, into which I fell. As soon as I stepped onto the leaves I smelt it, but it was no use, the darts fired themselves, due to the button I had stood on, and I began to feel drowsy. Sleep darts have almost no effect on me; one would make no difference to me at all, yet the amount that now stuck in my back and chest made me feel very drowsy.

My legs failed me as they became too weak to support my exhausted body and I collapsed onto the ground. That was when the men came, some collected the equipment and others cleared it up. Then three came over to me; one cuffed my wrists, and one attached some special caps to my hands and feet, which, I realised, would prevent my claws from being usable. The last checked that everything was secure, and then injected a needle into my arm, making me feel weaker; which was the sole purpose of the drug.

Then two of the men grabbed me under my armpit and dragged me to my feet; holding me in this position they began to lead me away; to weak, drowsy and defenceless to resist I obediently came.

They proceeded to lead me up the steps to one of five vans and sat me down on a hard bench, and then left, locking the door behind them. So there I sat, hands cuffed, drowsy and locked in a van that began to trundle along the grassy terrain, it's rocking motion lulling me to sleep.

VvVvVvV

I awoke, still very drowsy, yet forgetful of my position and stood to look around myself. But the rocking motion of the van caused me to stumble, so I sat and as I did, all the memories of the events flooded back to me. I must have made a bit of noise, falling about in the back, because a sliding window opened and a man wearing dark shades peered through it at me.

"Quiet back there, just stay seated, we're nearly at the base, alright." He told me grumpily and I froze in terror, 'a Hydra base, no! It can't be!' my breathing increased and I searched frantically around myself for a suitable escape. Yet the man still watched me and, realising my terror, tried to calm me.

"Alright, alright. Calm it girl, it ain't a Hydra base, no, it's a lot different to that." And he turned around again, smirking at something I didn't know. Yet I subconsciously calmed, and my thoughts wondered, but I was brought back to reality a few hours later as the van jolted and I was knocked off of my seat.

Then the van stopped and I heard doors sliding open and the men driving my van got out. Anger rose in me, these assholes had kidnapped me and now I had a splitting headache because I had just knocked headfirst into the bench opposite me. They would regret this; they would regret the day they even tried to capture Lexa Howlett! You never sedate a weapon, unless you seriously want to have your name placed on a death list.

Standing I listened as people moved around the van, doing god knows what! Then, as I began to become impatient, my door opened and four guards stood in front of it, all facing me, waiting for me to make the first move.

So I did.

I bolted, heading straight for them, my face full of fury. But they didn't flinch, they just grabbed me, two of them, and a third opened a box he was carrying. Looking into the box, the fourth took a needle from it and filled it with a gloopy liquid and then proceeded to stick it in my arm, filling my body with a drowsy sensation, once again making my knees weaken and buckle.

The two who held me, supported me and muttered to the other two who stood there. One checked my security devices, but I didn't make it easy by punching him in the face. Whilst one ran to a stone building, which looked very similar to the Hydra bases. But it had distinct differences; proving to me the guard in my van had told the truth; I was not in Hydra's possession. Yet that opened a vat of questions in my head, mainly; who had captured me?

I didn't really care of course, I was more satisfied in escaping, so I began to struggle, through my weakness I pulled at the guards grip on me and I struggled but it was all in vain.

The guards began to lead me into the building, one of them walked in front, whilst the others held me upright and prevented me from moving.

Then as I neared a doorway, no doubt leading to another corridor, I heard a man shout, "come on! Come on! She can't be that much work. Come on, drag her in. For heavens sake, hurry up." Then the guard I had seen before ran through, towards us and spoke to the guard that had led us.

"Yes, yes. The cell has been unlocked, yes. Yes the other girls are up, mmm…yes well, the petite one is sitting on her bed, the Untouchable is lying on hers. Yes." My face must have been puzzled; I had no idea what they were on about, cell? Petite one? The untouchable? What the hell was he on about! But then he spoke again.

"The scarlet, yes. She's up, yes; she's standing by the bars. Yes, alright, I'll take over from here." And when he said that, the guard who had led us left with a nod of the head to the guards holding me and the new man also nodded at them and he led this time; through the doors and into the unknown.

As I entered the new corridor I began to shout at the guards to let me go, and leave me alone. I swore and shouted, but they ignored me. I pulled and twisted in their grasp, trying to get free, and then I spotted a girl, about my age, staring at me through cell bars. She had auburn hair, yet two large, white bangs at the front. Still twisting, I looked from her to another girl, in a cell next to hers. A girl, again about 18, made eye contact with me, she had black, shoulder-length hair that had red tips at the bottom. She was smirking, and I could tell it was at my struggling, and this made me yell even louder. That's when my eyes fell on the last girl, I could tell immediately she was the one named petite. A small figure, with small features, yet she still looked about my age as well. But I only got a quick look at her before I was thrown into the cell next to hers, the one opposite the girl with the white bangs.

Swearing at the guards and yelling at them, I watched as they locked my cell and traced their footsteps up the corridor, through the doors and out of sight.

Sighing, I stopped yelling and ran my fingers through my long, midnight blue hair, staring at the faces before me. Looking at each girl in turn, I quietly name each in my head from instinct; 'the scarlet haired one; the Scarlet, the petite one; the Petite and that must mean the one with white bangs is; the Untouchable.' Then turning away from them and facing my cold, white prison cell I whispered my own name, "the Weapon."

End of Chapter

Go Lexa! She kicked the Hydra people's asses! She rocks!

How was that chapter then, a bit longer, yes, but well worth it! What do you think?

Cannot wait for the next chapter of COD! Up tomorrow! Hope you guys can't wait for the next chapter on this story! Huh! But I'm afraid you'll have to, I can't think of what to do next! Got any ideas? If so tell me them in a review, it would be a lot of help! xxx


	5. So Sociable

Hi people, sorry that it's taken so long but I had to think of a good idea for the next chappie, and here it is.

Responses:

**Musagirl15:** Yay! My stories awesome! Thank you! And here is your update xxx 

**Kathrine212: **Heya, I don't mind the bugging, in fact I like it; it shows that you REALLY want to see the rest of my story. Hehe! Yeh, I loved Lexa's kicking ass as I wrote it; I didn't go too far with it, did I? As for **tomorrow's **instalment, I don't think so! ;P xxx

**MagCat: **I know, don't you just love Lexa's revenge, I mean; if I was her I'd never stop with revenge, come on! They experimented on her; she deserves to kick ass! Update soon…I hope I wasn't that bad! xxx

**Sugarhighnutjob: **Hihi, I'm so glad you reviewed and that you find it's a brilliant story. Last chappie was a bit long wasn't it!Here's. Next. Chappie. xxx

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

_Change of points of view are italic and underlined_

Chapter 5

VvV So Sociable… VvV

_Kitty:_

Looking about myself I saw three moody teenagers all scowling at nothing. One standing, looking through the bars on her cage at the doors up the corridor. Another lying on her bed, scowling up at the ceiling, no doubt thinking about something that was making her increasingly angry. And the last, pacing up and down her cage, like an animal that has been locked up; I thought she certainly sounded like an animal by the way she was growling and baring her teeth.

As I watched all three, Rogue began to copy the new girl's movement and moved away from the bars on her cage; pacing back and forth, whilst Wanda turned on her stomach on her bed, her facial expression now showing she was seriously depressed.

I myself stood in the centre of my cage and as I got bored of their actions I turned my back to all three facing my bed which I walked to and lay down on. Sighing I lay on my stomach like Wanda, with my elbows propped on the bed, my hands curled up under my chin. I sighed again and bit my lip to prevent the tears threatening to fall from my face as my thoughts turned to my parents, 'they don't even know I'm here, they won't know I'm missing; the professor will have only just found out himself.' And the first tear fell, splashing onto my pillow.

_Lexa:_

My head turned as my heightened hearing heard something splash and I stopped pacing. Looking to my left I looked through the bars into the cell next to mine and saw the smaller girl; the petite one, lying on her bed which faced mine. Watching her I saw a tear drop from her face onto the pillow and I heard it splash as it hit.

My insides began to squirm as I felt a new emotion that I had never felt before yet I didn't know what it was. I knew I had to ask someone and that it had to be one of these girls.

Looking about me I saw the girl opposite me, the one with the white bangs, pacing back and forth about her cage. Then I looked towards the girl opposite the crying one; the one with scarlet hair, lying on her pillow with her head buried into it. I bit my lip, anxious of asking someone to describe my new emotion, I hated to admit it but I was worried. I wasn't worried about them, no; I was worried about talking to them and asking for help; not something I do easily. But knowing I had to, so this squirming feeling would go away, I spoke to the girl opposite me.

"Hey…you, hello?" I spoke to her and the girl looked up at me, curiously, a bit annoyed at my rudeness.

_Rogue:_

I looked up as someone spoke, and I saw the newest girl staring at me. I was curious as to what she wanted and also a bit annoyed, 'oh yeh, don't be to polite, you only want me to talk to you, but no; you shouldn't be polite about it.'

"Ya," I heard myself answer to her, my tone annoyed and sounding rather frustrated. "What?" I decided to add, just to get even with her rudeness, but I regretted it momentarily as she frowned at me obviously slightly upset that I had been so rude.

"Forget it," was all she said in reply as she turned her back to me and crossed her arms, walking to her bed. As she sat down though, she was now facing me and a look of confusion was on her face; as if she was thinking hard about something, but I couldn't be bothered with what, so I just started my pacing again.

But as I paced I couldn't help but curiously watch her out of the corner of my eye. As I watched her she frowned in confusion, but then the frown lightened and she surprised me by smiling; obviously having worked out something. Then as I still watched she stood up, still smiling and walked to the front of her cage looking at me, so I stopped pacing and turned to face her.

"Excuse me," she said, her smile looking very forced.

"Ya?" My voice was still very annoyed and I knew she could hear the tone of it.

Scowling at me she moved right up to the front of her bars and gritted her teeth, talking through them obviously annoyed with me.

"Look, I tried being polite alright, the least you could do was try yourself. Its not my fault I have socialising problems!" she scowled at me before carrying on, still talking with her teeth gritted. "You know, its not like I'm going to be good at socialising with people when I was kept away from ordinary people all my life! So why don't you at least give me a chance! I was only talking to you in the first place to ask a question, but no, don't worry I'll just stay here being confused whilst you pace back and forth. I didn't even realise at first that I was being rude to you, I was just trying to talk, and I don't even know how to be polite. But no; just forget it."

"All rahght (right), all rahght! Chill, ah didn't realise ok!" I realised that I was getting angry and sounding rude so I tried to change my tone. It was a bit difficult, seeming as I'm not to good at politeness either.

"What do ya want ta know?"

"I have this feeling inside my tummy…" she paused and I saw her glance at Kitty, before she spoke to me again in a hushed tone. "I heard this splashing sound and I looked at that girl and saw she was crying. Then I looked away and I felt this squirming feeling in my tummy, and I don't know what it is…I've never felt it before…"

I was confused, and stood silently for a while, thinking about it before I answered. "Yahre (you're) feeling pitah (pity), ya know, when ya feel sorrah fohr someone."

She looked at me, and frowned in confusion, "I don't feel sorry for people, I was created so that I didn't feel pity…so that I never felt pain or depression, only anger or hatred…"

It was my turn to frown this time, something about what she had just said made me think of something I had heard before, and then I remembered; "Logan!"

VvV Flashback VvV

Logan interrupted the Professor and spoke up; "I was experimented on when I was younger. A company called Hydra kidnapped me, they inserted adamantium into my skeleton to create the perfect weapon, but I escaped. I only found out earlier but they then cloned me, 23 times, to try and crate another perfect weapon. 22 times it failed, but on the 23rd attempt they found the cure; my healing ability. Taking a child, they experimented on her and gave her an adamantium skeleton like mine, with two claws. She was the perfect weapon for them but she had a problem, created to be emotionless and pitiless, she felt only anger and hatred. They treated her like an animal, prodding her and teasing her to release that anger. Hydra trained her to use that anger to defeat anything in her path, so now she was a human full of anger and hatred to those who had filled her life with these emotions.

Hydra had now created the perfect weapon, X-23…but they can't control her, and now she is seeking out and trying to destroy the one reason for her existence; me."

VvV End of Flashback VvV

"X-23…" Rogue whispered as the memory came flooding back and looked up at the girl opposite her, the girl Logan had spoken of.

_Lexa:_

"What did you say?" I looked at the girl in front of me, my eyes narrowed in anger.

"Yahre name is X-23, isn't it?"

"Yeh…and no. My real name is Lexa Howlett, X-23 is only my code name…but how did you know that?"

"Logan…Wolverine."

"My dad? You…" Lexa hesitated realising she had just called him her **dad**, but she ignored it and carried on. "You know my dad?"

"Yeh, ah'm a friend of his…ah live with him."

"In that institute place? The one I broke into?"

"Yeh, don't ya rememba; ya took meh out, ages ago."

"Oh…and her?" Lexa nodded in Kitty's direction and looked back at Rogue, who nodded. "Oh…what about her?" Lexa nodded in Wanda's direction.

"Nah, she lives somewhere else. She's mah enemy…well tha enemy of tha x-men."

"Oh…what's her name, in fact what's your name?"

"Mah name? I don't know mah real name, but everyone calls meh Rogue."

"What about her?" Lexa nodded towards Kitty again.

"She's called Katherahne (Katherine) Pryde, but everyone calls her Kitty. And befohre ya ask, tha girl with red tips is called…"

"Wanda."

_Wanda:_

I spoke up, interrupting Rogue who glared at me for a bit, but then her expression softened slightly and I knew she could see the tears shining in my sapphire eyes. Wiping them away I spoke again; "my name's Wanda Maximoff."

"Oh…I'm Lexa Howlett." The girl with shining blue hair spoke to me and smiled, so I smiled back.

"I'm Kitty Pryde." Kitty spoke up and me, Rogue and Lexa turned to face her noticing the tears shining in her eyes to, which she also wiped away. "It's, like, nice to meet you." And she smiled at Lexa and then smiled at me, "it's, like, nice to see you Wanda."

I smiled at her, and felt a strange happiness at the fact that she could talk to me and smile at me, even though I was the apparent 'enemy.'

All four of us looked at each other and started to try and make conversation, not noticing the doors at the end of the hall open slightly as someone watched us from afar.

End of Chapter

Right, well there is a chappie just to introduce the girls to each other. So…who's the person watching them? And what does that person want with them? Hahaha! You'll have to read on! But don't forget to review first xxx


	6. the Temptations of Evil

Right, last chappie the girls got to know each other and someone was watching them talk! Oooooh, could this be the person who had them captured, or someone who helped (hinthint!) Well, now you'll find out so enjoy.

Responses:

**Katherine212: **I was slightly worried that the interactions weren't that good, but I'm very happy you thought they were. Glad you liked the chappie, but why did you like it…if I knew that then I could make you liked the chappies even more ;P xxx

**MagCat: **phew! I'm glad you liked the interaction between the girls, I wasn't sure that it was very good and I was worrying slightly…which bit of the Rogue/Lexa interaction did you like the best? Sorry, but I probably won't be able to update quickly, I'm having a bit of writer's block on this chapter and I have quite a few other stories going on as well. I promise that I will update as soon as this chapter is finished, and I'll work on the next chapter straight away…how does that sound? xxx

**Musagirl15: **glad you loved it, writing more, xxx

NaijaStrawberrie: heya, glad that chapter rocked. What makes this story rock? See, if I know the answer to these questions (why does my story rock? Why is it good?) then I know how to make it even better! I'll try to update soon, xxx. 

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

_When words are emphasised they are in italic _

Chapter 6

VvV the Temptations of Evil VvV

"This is good mistress, is it not?" a voice spoke through the silence in a hopeful manner, and when the voice received no answer they spoke again. "We have four, just as you requested, and they are getting along quite well. I watched them all earlier and saw them interacting with each other, even the enemies got on well!" Polaris' voice got more hopeful with every word she spoke.

A person sat in a chair facing away from the woman who had spoke; the chair was so tall that it hid the person completely from view and the only way that Polaris could be sure her mistress was there was when her voice spoke from it. "Yes, you have done well Polaris, yet there is still much work to be done. I wish to speak with Psylocke now, she will have a lot of work to do. Fetch her for me, and check the girls are all satisfied; we don't want to deprive them now, do we? We must keep their strength up."

"Yes mistress, certainly." And Polaris stood from her chair and walked out of the room, leaving her mistress alone.

VvVvVvV

Psylocke walked out of the training room and down the corridor thinking of the task before her; four girls had been taken just as her master wanted, but now she had to train them all for him. Rolling her eyes she walked down the corridor but stopped as she heard someone call her name.

"Betsy! Betsy!"

Turning, Psylocke faced the person calling her name and watched as she came towards her. "Yes, Polaris?"

"Good evening Psylocke. Mistress wishes to talk with you about the girls, apparently she is very satisfied with them yet there is still a lot of work to be done."

"I am aware of that, Luv, I have just been informed that I will have the…" Psylocke paused, unable to think of how she should phrase her sentence. "I will have the…honour, of training the girls. I only hope that they are up for it; intense training sessions daily and a lot of team work…it shall be difficult."

"Yes, Betsy, I certainly agree, a lot of work has to be done. But enough, mistress wishes to speak with you now, she is in her office."

"Certainly, Luv, I am on my way." Psylocke turned as she spoke and left Polaris standing in the corridor.

VvVvVvV

"Psylocke I understand that you are aware of what is to be done?"

"Yes, mistress. But how do you know that it _will_need to be done? We have not even discovered whether or not they will co-operate."

"True, Psylocke, true. Yet I am sure, with the right persuasion they shall be."

Psylocke sat opposite her mistress' desk with a confused expression on her face. "But mistress, can you trust Polaris to find out the right information for you? She isn't the best for these jobs."

"What have I told you about reading my mind! It is forbidden!" Psylocke's mistress spoke angrily and smirked as Psylocke drew back in slight fear. "Polaris will do her job correctly, but it is you who shall find the information I need. You will use your telepathy abilities whilst Polaris attracts the girls' attentions, therefore none of them will notice you entering their heads and you may get to work, is that understood?"

"Certainly mistress." Psylocke looked at her feet in a nod, and stood to get on with her task.

VvVvVvV

Meanwhile, in a not so faraway corridor.

Rogue:

"Yeh, ah 'memba that Kitty, Kurt was just swinging on this swing and he started ta talk ta meh. Then out of nowhere comes Kitty and she jumps on meh, takin' meh completely off guard and tackles meh ta tha ground!" I shook my head in a teasing way at Kitty and she giggled.

"Ya! But I did have a reason! Logan was, like, being a total bum and called me half-pint! So I, like, thought 'heck I'll show you' and I tried to, like, prove myself to everyone, but in the end I totally bummed and instead of beating Rogue I caused Kurt to get taken out!" I watched as Kitty laughed at herself and then looked at the other two girls, glad to see that even though Wanda wasn't laughing she was at least smirking in amusement.

Lexa on the other hand was laughing straight out, "nice, taking out your half-brother on the way!" Lexa bent double laughing, and I could tell she was picturing it all.

"Bet Mystique was real pleased with you!" As Wanda said this I immediately tensed but then I shook it off.

"Na, she was glad. She'd been chasin' meh round and changin' inta (into) tha different x-men ta scare meh off."

"Yeh, it totally worked to!"

We laughed with each other and even Wanda joined in now, but then the corridor went silent, our laughter echoing uncannily though it, as someone entered the corridor and began to walk towards our cages. The woman was tall and very muscly; she had wavy, green hair reaching to her chest. She spoke to us as we looked at her; "glad to see you awake girls, and I'm glad to see you getting on."

All four of us stared at the stranger, well, I glared with Wanda and Lexa whilst Kitty just stared. I noticed Lexa begin to rub her hands over the machines that prevented her claws from reappearing, and Kitty grabbed hold of the bars at the front of her cage, Wanda following her example. I stood in the middle of my cage and watched the woman who stopped walking when she reached my cage, it being the closest to the doors apart from Lexa's.

She looked through the bars as if inspecting me and then spoke again; "and how are you feeling today Rogue? Do you want anything to eat or drink." I stood and stared at her in silence for a few moments, until the woman obviously got bored and went to Wanda's cage; the one next to mine, she was obviously making a circle of the cages.

Then I felt a slight tugging at my mind, like a Telepath was at work, and I started, but the tugging sensation disappeared. And even though I looked about myself anxiously, I calmed down and carried on watching the woman who had asked her questions to Wanda, but was not receiving an answer. 'If she didn't receive and answer from me I doubt she'll get one from Lexa or Wanda, Kitty on the other hand…' I watched the woman walk to Kitty who looked very nervous and backed away from her cage bars. Kitty had been complaining of thirst earlier and I new if the woman offered a drink she wouldn't be able to resist, but strangely I was proved wrong.

Kitty:

I backed away as the woman made her way to my cage, I knew she'd ask me if I wanted a drink and I desperately did. Thirst knotted in my stomach and I gulped my saliva trying to replenish my desire for liquid but it didn't help. Then I felt eyes on me and I looked out of the corner of my eyes to see Rogue watching me anxiously, and I knew what she was thinking. 'She thinks I'm gonna give in, she thinks that out of all of us I'm gonna be the only one to accept, I'll show her.' I had a stubborn streak to myself, and most of the x-men knew it but they never believed in me. 'I'll show her, just like I almost did that night we first met, she should know I'm not that weak; I'll show her…' My thoughts trailed off as the woman stood in front of me, and I looked up at her in slight anxiousness, but none the less prepared.

She must of thought of me as weak, 'I did back off,' because she held her hand out to me in a friendly gesture. "Good afternoon, I am Polaris I hope you are feeling well today Kitty."

'Oh, so you think you can play the polite card with me, I'll show you, I'll show them all.' I looked down at her hand and back at her, then snarled. "Oh yes, apart from the fact that I'm, like, locked up I'm just fab, just fab."

I saw Lexa, Rogue and Wanda's eyes widen in surprise and inwardly I laughed, 'ha! That showed them! This stubbornness thing is actually quite fun, ha, I said I'd show everyone!'

Polaris' eyes widened to but she shrugged it off and carried on, "would you like anything to eat Kitty?"

"Number one; like I'd ever eat anything given by you, by the way you, like, jumped me I'd judge any food from you to be filled by poison or more drugs. And number two; only my friends call me Kitty."

"Fine by me, what would you have me call you?" I could tell Polaris was slightly uncomfortable by my unexpected rudeness, but she was good at hiding it.

"Well, my friends call me Kitty, people who are, like, my equals call me Katherine and people lower then me only have the right to call me Ms. Pryde. Seeming as kidnappers fall into category three, you'll, like, be calling me Ms. Pryde, that is if I ever want to talk to you anyway." I snarled at her again but inside I was jumping for joy, 'god my parents would kill me for being so rude! This is the first time I've ever been so rude, but it's so much fun! I love it!'

Polaris raised her eyebrows at me and then shrugged again whilst heading to Lexa, who, like Wanda and Rogue, stared at me obviously amazed by my outburst. Only after Polaris had left did they confront me.

"Where tha hell did that come from Kitty?" Rogue looked at me in awe and slight respect.

"Yeh…I've never heard you talk like that!" Wanda's eyes held new-found respect for me as well and I smiled, basking in it.

"Well, I saw the way you had all watched me. And I totally knew you thought I was gonna chicken out and ask for some water, so I thought that I'd totally show you! So I like, so did!"

The girls smiled at me in an amused way and I started to giggle, very proud of myself, 'very proud indeed!'

VvVvVvV

It was later that night that Polaris came back, and when she did she had three armed guards with her who all walked up to Lexa's cage, unlocked it and lead, well, practically dragged Lexa away into the darkness beyond the doors.

Lexa:

"Stop struggling child, we aren't going to drug you or harm you in any way we just need to have a little chat." I completely ignored Polaris and carried on struggling anyway, but in the end they still managed to drag me into the room where I was sat in darkness on a chair. Polaris left me alone, and I sat there thinking of how to escape, I wasn't stupid enough to try and run through the door because there would be guards waiting and with my hands barred I'd have no weapons.

Just as I was trying to come up with an escape plan Polaris walked back into the room accompanied by another woman. The other woman was tall and looked to be in her twenties, with long purple hair that reached her hips in waves, she stood with her head tilted and looked at me. She was quite beautiful, I didn't mean to sound lesbian by it, but she just gave this aura of beauty and control and something else…power. She looked powerful even by the way she was standing with one hand on her hip, her head still tilted and staring at me, she looked so powerful; what I didn't know at that moment was that she was.

"Well now, Luv, we got a newbie then." I could tell by the way she said it that it was more of a statement than a question but Polaris still answered it as if it was.

"Yes, four of them if you remember; that is the plan."

"Yada-yada-yada." The lady rolled her eyes in exasperation, and even though I wasn't really in a position to I still smirked at her rudeness to Polaris. The newcomer must have seen because she looked at me and smirked back, winking so that Polaris couldn't see. "Now then, what about some light I think our friend Lexa might want to actually be able to acknowledge our presence."

"Yes, yes, yes." Polaris started to head for the light switch but before she had even taken a step it switched itself on. She only rolled her eyes in annoyance as if she was used to this but I stared in shock.

"Chill girl, I'm a telepath and a telekinetic, you know; able to read people's minds, project my thoughts into people's heads and hear their own and make things happen with just my mind, like turning the light switch on, or fetching myself a chair." As she said this last statement the lady did just that; she used her mind to pull one of the chairs from under the table to her and she sat on it. "Now then, now that we're all comfortable..." Polaris began to object seeming as she was still standing, "get your own." I smirked again at the lady's ignorance and she smirked too, but then my smirk turned to shock when Polaris lifted a chair and placed it in front of herself.

"The ability to control metal," she explained calmly as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

For a while I just sat and stared at the people in front of me who seemed to be having a silent conversation, but then I remembered what they'd said and realised they were having a telepathic conversation. But then as I sat they both nodded as if having agreed on something, even though Polaris didn't look to pleased.

"I will be back in 5 minutes." Polaris stood as she spoke and was just about to leave the room when the lady spoke.

"Nope, Luv, you'll be back when I contact you." Polaris rolled her eyes but nodded and walked out of the door leaving the lady and me alone.

"Now then Lexa, why don't we have a little chat. My name is Betsy Braddock, British born and bred, but you can call me Psylocke. Now then, I want to have a little discussion about why you're here."

"I know why I'm here; let me guess because your all psychos who want to make my life a misery by training me to be your perfect weapon."

"Yes, and no. We want you to train here and make you into a kind of weapon, but your life will never be a misery. We will treat you with respect, care for you like a daughter, and many employees will treat you with fear. We are also fair and will think of your needs constantly, we have treats for those who work well and complete mission and slight punishments for those who fail. This place is an office, you do your work well; you get bonuses and more missions, you disregard the rules; you lose those privileges and have more training.

Think about it Lexa, this will be a home for you with the other girls if they agree, yet at times this will be a work place of your dreams that you couldn't find anywhere else and when you're older and retired just think how much money you'll of made. When you go out you put everything you want on our never-ending bill, everything you buy whether you will buy a necessity or just a pleasure, we will pay. None of the other employees get this treatment because you're special Lexa, you're wanted, and you're needed. We need you here Lexa, you're an important part of this business now and if you except we will show you just how important you are. You'll move away from here and everything you once knew, you'll start again, a new life away from the troubles you once were a part of. Think about it Lexa, living in a big mansion away from this old, crappy life, away from Hydra."

I hissed as she spoke of Hydra but she just smiled as if she was amused.

"Oh yes Lexa, as far away from Hydra as you can go, but not so far away that your dream cannot be fulfilled. You see Lexa; you help us and we help you, we have been enemies with Hydra for years now and we want their destruction as much as you, with your help we can get it. We know exactly where they are based, but what you do with that information is up to you; the privilege of their destruction is all yours. You see this file Lexa," a file lifted in the air as Psylocke moved her hands upwards; as if instructing it. "Look at it, go on, read it."

I took the file and opened it about halfway, as I did my eyes lit up with such enthusiasm; every base of Hydra you could wish to see. The page I was actually on was the page that showed a blue print diagram of the Hydra base I had destroyed just as I had been captured. Above it was a small caption;

Base 284 – Terminated _X-23_

I smirked at the bit of information and scanned through the rest of the booklet; Base 316 – Terminated _X-23, _Base 318 – Terminated _X-23_, Base 042 – Terminated _X-23_, so many with my name above. A few I discovered had been terminated by others, one even accidentally by Hydra itself, but I didn't care; this was good enough for me. But as I hugged the file to my chest it pulled away from me and no matter how hard I gripped it flew out of my hands and into Psylocke's.

"Give it back!" I snarled but Psylocke only smirked in amusement.

"Your fulltime commitment?" She questioned and waved the booklet teasingly in front of my eager face. She then held it out; "do you except?" I considered and then my hand reached out for it, Psylocke placed it in my outstretched hand and I pulled it towards my chest being an answer in itself. Grinning evilly Psylocke stood and held out her hand to me; "come."

VvVvVvV

Wanda:

I had watched Lexa go, struggling to escape their grip, yet I could do nothing but watch, watch as she was led into the darkness beyond the doors.

She never came back. I waited and waited with Rogue and Kitty, all three of us having been woken by her struggling yells and curses, but she never returned. Yet they did, the people came back; Polaris being followed by three armed guards. I knew instantly who they had come for, and I knew I was right as they stopped in front of my cage and unlocked it. I left my cage and gave a single glance to Rogue and Kitty before being led by the guards; two to each side and one following, with Polaris leading the way. I turned again at the doors and looked back at Rogue and Kitty, giving a small smile before I was pushed roughly through, out of their sight.

I shot an indignant glare at the guard behind me but he ignored me completely and I turned back to face the way we headed, sighing with exhaustion, fed up with all this pushing about. I never spoke a word to any of them, and with the exception of turning to glare at the guard behind, my head never turned to take in my surroundings, because I just couldn't be bothered.

They stopped in front of a door and I watched, bored, as Polaris unlocked it and gestured for me to enter. Yet I didn't, I simply stood ignoring them all, the only way they got me through was when the guard behind pushed me again and I stumbled through the door. I expected them to follow me but none did, instead as I turned to face them, Polaris spoke; "please child, take a seat. I will return soon." And she shut the door, leaving me in darkness, yet I wasn't happy about that because it reminded me to much of the asylum and I groped along the walls for a switch and I found it. As I pressed it a light above me flashed twice before bursting into light that filled ever corner of the room. It was bare, with white walls and a metal table with four metal seats, two both sides, no windows and only one door. I sat on one of the chairs and would have stood quickly, feeling how cold it was, yet I couldn't be bothered and besides I was used to it due to my father's obsession with metal himself.

I waited and to her word Polaris returned a few moments later accompanied by a new face, a rather stunning one, framed by dark purple hair that fell to the women's hips. She acknowledged me by tilting her head to the side and smiling ever so slightly in obvious satisfaction. Yet I never returned the smile, instead I glowered at her and looked away; to the wall, but to my annoyance she only walked up to me and turned my head to face her.

"Hmmm…another stubborn one eh? Oh well, more fun for me." She looked behind her to Polaris as she spoke and Polaris smirked in agreement.

"Yes, and I think you'll find that the others are to, of course I was rather surprised by the smaller one; her file describes her as rather polite and sweet."

"Well you obviously didn't check it correctly." The lady infront of me rolled her eyes, and if I could have been bothered I would of smirked in amusement. "Now then, if you don't mind, I think me and Wanda here need some time alone." The women stood and released me from her grip before turning to Polaris and gesturing towards the door. "I think I can handle her Luv." Her tone changed from polite to annoyed when Polaris hesitated and she frowned, but then smiled again and seated herself in front of me when Polaris complied.

"Now then Wanda. My name is Betsy Braddock, British born and bred, but you can call me Psylocke. Now then, I want to have a little discussion about why you're here."

I didn't speak a word and my facial expression never altered from very bored. But as she let the silence take over me I frowned and decided to speak; "fine. I don't really care as to what you want with me, but if you really want to then go ahead."

"Certainly. Now then, you are here for the very same reasons as your friends. We want to give you a life, a new one without all the problems and worries you once knew, I life, a home, a job and maybe in time; a feeling of a family, one that respects and cares for you. You will train here, and take missions as you did yet the missions are considerably different. Your life here will be similar to that you knew but also considerably different; respect and fear you will earn. We will treat you with the very respect you desire, we will car for you as a daughter unlike your father."

My lip curled in a snarl of disgust at my father's mention and Psylocke smirked slightly.

"Oh yes Wanda, we will treat you as he never did, our other employees will learn to fear you in time, a fear that you will learn to crave and lust for; something that will be fulfilled. You shall taken care of in the most extravagant ways; we are fair and will think of your needs constantly. We have treats for those who work well and complete mission yet slight punishments for those who fail. This place is an office, you do your work well; you get bonuses and more missions, you disregard the rules; you lose those privileges and have more training.

You will move away from here and all of that you ever hated and despised, your life will no longer be a curse but a blessing. You will live a life of luxury in a place away from this, away from Bayville; away from those you hate and despise. A mansion will be your new home and I promise it to be luxurious; it will be a home of your deepest desires and a work place of your dreams that you couldn't find anywhere else and when you're older and retired just think how much money you'll of made. When you go out you put everything you want on our never-ending bill, everything you buy whether you will buy a necessity or just a pleasure, we will pay. None of the other employees get this treatment because you're special Wanda, you're wanted, and you're needed. We need you here Wanda, you're an important part of this business now and if you except we will show you just how important you are. You'll move away from here and everything you once knew, you'll start again, a new life away from the troubles you once were a part of. Think about it Wanda; no more of the Brotherhood, no more of the pests you call friends, no more unfair orders and no unnecessary rules. And the best part Wanda; no more of those traitors who claim to be family, your father will never haunt your footsteps again, your brother will never trick or deceive you again. Your life will be _your_life Wanda, no one will control it ever again; all you have to do is take my hand and I can give you this and more."

Psylocke held out her hand to me and I looked at it, thinking hard, 'is this what I want? Do I really want his kind of freedom and escape?' I answered myself and Psylocke as I slowly uncrossed my arms and took Psyclocke's offered hand.

She smiled evilly and pulled me up, "come."

VvVvVvV

Rogue:

I sat on my bed and slowly tucked one of my white bangs behind my ear, staring all the while at the floor. Only Kitty noticed as the guards and Polaris entered the corridor again, I was to rapped up in worry for Wanda and Lexa. I only knew they were there as I heard a key twisting in the lock and my door swung open with a creak, standing to face them I allowed one of them to enter my cell and grab my arm before leading me out.

The guard released me when we were out and stood behind me, with Polaris in front and the other two each side of me. They began to lead me up the corridor yet I stopped, knowing Lexa and Wanda's fates awaited my own. I turned to Kitty and looked her in the eyes that were full of confusion and I spoke to her. "Ah will see ya again Kitty, ah promise." The guards either side of me grabbed me by the arms and began to drag me away but I pulled back, my neck craned to keep eyesight with Kitty; "ah promise Kitty! Ah promise ya!" I yelled those last words before I was pulled away from her and out of sight, the last thing I saw was Kitty falling on her knees on the ground in a silent prayer.

They dragged me through the corridors, and all the while I struggled trying to return to Kitty; we may have had our differences but we were the best of friends and thought of each other as sisters. Yet my struggling did no good and I was pushed roughly into a room that was in darkness, and there I was left after being told Polaris would be back soon. She was true to her word, not that I cared and another women dressed in black and dark purple accompanied her. Polaris left me with the women at a glance from her and we sat opposite each other, staring and taking each other in. Then she suddenly smiled and began to talk to me; "Good evening Rogue. My name is Betsy Braddock, British born and bred, but you can call me Psylocke. Now then, I want to have a little discussion about why you're here." I looked at the floor as I spoke and couldn't care less about what she said.

I scowled at her and spoke each word quivering with anger; "I don't give a damn why I'm here, all I give a damn about it getting out. But I'll listen to you, not that it will make me care any more."

"You may be surprised, for you are here for the very same reasons as you friends, Lexa and Wanda who have both excepted my offer and Kitty is also here for that very reason and I'm sure she shall except to. We want to give you a life, a new one without all the problems and worries you once knew, I life, a home, a job and maybe in time; a feeling of a family, one that respects and cares for you. You will train here, and take missions as you did yet the missions are considerably different. Your life here will be so different to that you knew with the x-men. No more unnecessary rules, no one to stand in your way and no one to guide you into false trust."

I looked up at her and saw a look of honesty, she smirked knowing she had my interest and carried on speaking.

"Oh yes Rogue, we shall never lead you into false trust because we will never need to. Your life here will be for work, for life, for respect and fear. Yet trust will not be a necessity, for in time you shall learn to lose it and the only trust you shall hold is with your friends. We shall give respects as you gain it; our other employees, those who are your minors shall give fear and we will treat you and care for you as a daughter. You shall taken care of in the most extravagant ways; we are fair and will think of your needs constantly. We have treats for those who work well and complete missions, yet slight punishments for those who fail. This place is an office, you do your work well; you get bonuses and more missions, you disregard the rules; you lose those privileges and have more training.

You will move away from here and all of those who once put you down, who once made you feel like just another page in the book. For you are not just a page; you are so much more important and if you come with us we can show just how important you are. You will live a life of luxury in a place away from this, away from Bayville; away from those who rule you and treat you as a minor. A mansion you have lived in, yet this one that you shall live in will be so much more luxurious. It will be a home of your deepest desires and a work place of your dreams that you couldn't find anywhere else and when you're older and retired just think how much money you'll of made.

When you go out you put everything you want on our never-ending bill, everything you buy whether you will buy a necessity or just a pleasure, we will pay. None of the other employees get this treatment because you're special Rogue, you're wanted, and you're needed. We need you here Rogue, you're an important part of this business now and if you except we will show you just how important you are. You'll move away from here and everything you once knew, you'll start again, a new life away from the troubles you once were a part of."

I looked down, these ideas and thoughts swirling about me; so tempting.

"Think about it Rogue; the x-men will no longer be your boss, you shall be your own, no more of those who tell you how much more important they are because it's all lies Rogue you are so much more important. No more unfair regulations and no unnecessary rules, no one to control and direct you and no one to feed you more lies and deceitfulness.

How wonderful would that life feel Rogue? Just think about it; your life, your rules, your way. Your deepest desires can be fulfilled in any way you want, just take my hand and your life will truly be your own." Psylocke held out her hand.

My head rose and my eyes glinted with an emotion I had never fully welcomed before, but now I welcomed it as if it were my own life, for now it was; my eyes shone with evil. I stood and reached forward with my hand, taking Psylocke's own.

Her eyes reflected the evil and she smiled evilly, "come."

End of Chapter

Wow…that was a long chappie…OH MY GOD! Look what I've done! I've made the girls evil! What am I like eh! Hope you liked all my little Psylocke speeches, rather long and quite similar…well, she does need to make similar points really and besides it just makes it easier to write. Not to mention I now have wrist cramp! So you really better of enjoyed this chappie! And I'm sure a nice, long review would make my wrist feel a lot better coz seriously; it canes! I hope you all noticed Kitty isn't evil yet…well you'll soon find out why I left her persuasion to another chappie…mainly coz she won't respond in the same way to the others…Love Thrills, xxx


	7. Fear of Evil

Ooh la-la, last chappie was a bit long eh! Well I'm hoping this one isn't to long…but you never know until you've written it. Ok, last chappie Lexa, Wanda and Rogue became evil but we never saw what happened with Kitty. Well the time has come; Kitty will you please take the stage!

Oh and I can't believe how many people liked my stubbornness thing with Kitty! YAY! Go me!

Ps. 'No one will mess with you or walk all over you, they'll all treat you with respect' Zoë March's idea for my fanfic!

Responses:

**Maria: **don't worry, the chappie for Kitty is here, glad you can't wait to read more and now you won't have to wait any longer! Please sit back and enjoy, xxx

**NaijaStrawberrie: **wow! So many people loved the chapter! And you were my first Kitty stubbornness lover, I'm really glad you loved it! I rule and so do you for reviewing, xxx

**Musagirl15:** glad it's awesome, glad you loved it, xxx 

**Zoë March: **Kitty is one of my favourite characters, and if she's really your favourite then you'll love this chapter coz it's all about Kitty! You're the second person who loved her stubbornness part and added it in their review! Hehehe, I do have to admit that I was quite proud of myself for it…also Kitty won't act stubborn and she won't accept the temptation of evil straight away; Kitty has a slight good girl streak in her still. I LOVE YOUR IDEA AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR REVIEW! OH MY GOD! That was such a brilliant fabulous idea that I have to use it! Look for it in Psylocke's speech, it will be underlined! Thank you sooooooooooo much!

**Iseult of the Snows: **yay, another new reviewer! I love this story so much! WOO HOO! Thank you, I'm so glad I'm doing a great job, YAY! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you've enjoyed the rest and I hope it's just as well put together…if that made any sense…I'll try and keep long chapters if they're good, but you can't make them to long otherwise people might get bored. But I'll try! Updating as soon as possible; straight after I finished the last chapter I started this one and I'm almost finished now and I only put up the other one a couple of hours ago! (A couple of hours ago from writing this.) Glad you like the story, and hope for you to review again as I do to all my wonderful reviewers, xxx

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

_"Telepathic thoughts are in italic and speech marks"_

Chapter 7

VvV Fear of Evil VvV

Kitty:

I was the last to be taken and I knew as soon as they took Rogue that I would go to. I had fallen to the floor on my knees in prayer, I didn't want anything bad to happen to Rogue, I didn't want anything bad to happen to any of us. Yet unknown to me, things would start to turn a bit nasty. They came again, yet my head never lifted as I knelt on the ground with it bowed in prayer, but I heard them come and unlock my door. Two of them came in when I made no move and lifted me under the armpits, but still I didn't move and that's how they took me. They only put me down when we had entered a dark room with no window and there they left me in the darkness. I heard Polaris tell me she would return soon but I didn't do anything, I stared at my feet and ignored the tears that trickled slowly down my cold, pale face.

Polaris returned with another women who stood infront of me and watched me as Polaris left the room; I only knew this by watching their feet from under my hair that fell about my bowed head. The women then took my head in her hand and lifted my chin up so I could face her, and she wiped away the tears with a gloved hand, stroking them away and smiling softly at me. Still I did nothing.

She sat in a chair opposite me yet never removed her hand from my face, and as she looked at me in obvious pity she spoke. Don't cry Kitty, nothing will come of harm to you if you co-operate. My name is Betsy Braddock, British born and bred, but you can call me Psylocke. All I want is a little discussion with you about why you are here, ok?"

She spoke softly, in almost a whisper and her eyes held real concern as she looked in pity at me. She just sat and looked at me for several minutes as if willing me to speak and as I did nothing she sighed quietly and carried on speaking.

"You are here for a very important reason Kitty, as are your friends. Now I am about to give you an offer, one that I am sure you will except as did your friends, will you listen to what I have to say?"

She titled her head to the side as she watched me yet I still said nothing and she sighed again before speaking.

"I will take this as a yes. We want to give you a life Kitty, a new one without all the problems and worries you once knew, I life, a home, a job and maybe in time; a feeling of a family, one that respects and cares for you. You will train here, and take missions as you did yet the missions are considerably different. Your life here will be so different to that you knew with the x-men. No more unnecessary rules, no one to stand in your way and no one to live your life for you.

We shall always care for you Kitty, and take care of you in ways that you will appreciate. Your life here will be for work, for life, for respect and fear, which I am sure given time you will crave as much as your companions. Yet all these things we shall give with more, with such enthusiasm you will wonder why you never received it before. We shall give respects as you gain it; our other employees, those who are your minors shall give fear and we will treat you and care for you as a daughter. You shall taken care of in the most extravagant ways; we are fair and will think of your needs constantly. We have treats for those who work well and complete missions, yet slight punishments for those who fail. This place is an office, you do your work well; you get bonuses and more missions, you disregard the rules; you lose those privileges and have more training.

You will move away from here and all of those who once made you feel left out, who rolled their eyes at your every comment and never appreciated you Kitty. Those people never knew you Kitty, because they never cared about you enough to really understand who you are and just how special you are. You will live a life of luxury in a place away from this, away from Bayville; away from those that ruled you and treated you as a minor. A mansion you have lived in, yet this one that you shall live in will be so much more luxurious. It will be a home of your deepest desires and a work place of your dreams that you couldn't find anywhere else and when you're older and retired just think how much money you'll of made.

When you go out you put everything you want on our never-ending bill, everything you buy whether you will buy a necessity or just a pleasure, we will pay. None of the other employees get this treatment because you're special Kitty, you're wanted, and you're needed. We need you here Kitty, you're an important part of this business now and if you except we will show you just how important you are. You'll move away from here and everything you once knew, you'll start again, a new life away from the troubles you once were a part of."

She stopped and looked at me, as if searching for my emotions to this proposal, then let my chin go and watched as my head turned again to face the floor.

"Think about it Kitty; you can finally be you without question and without all those people looking down at you. No more unfair regulations and no unnecessary rules, no one to make you feel left out and make you feel unimportant. No one will mess with you or walk all over you, they'll all treat you with respect.

Your life will change, yet it will be for the best; a new life for you and you only Kitty, just think how that would be." Psylocke held out her hand. "Take my hand Kitty and your life will be yours, your life will be everything you desire and more and you will finally see the world through your own eyes with your own opinion."

My head lifted and I looked at her with such coldness and hatred; "never."

She stared at me, expressionless and then stood, "you will turn this life down, a life that you will love beyond any other."

"I could never love that life and will never be part of it." My mind was made up and I looked again to the floor, never seeing the anger flash through Psylocke's eyes.

She smirked, "you are a fool Kitty, more so then anyone I have ever encountered. You have no choice; you have to take this Kitty, you cannot return to the x-men for you know too much. It is this life or none at all."

My eyes widened and I looked in shock at her before looking down again, "then I don't have a life anymore."

I sat and stared at the ground as Psylocke stared at me, my head only raised as she left the room, and then I finally broke into tears.

VvVvVvV

I sat and stared at the floor with tears falling constantly and never faltering, and that's how she found me when she walked into the room. I knew Rogue was there; I could see her feet move across the room and I heard as she pulled a chair out for herself, seating herself opposite me. But she never spoke; not one word, she just watched me as I cried, and watched the tears splash onto the hard, cold, stone floor.

"I can't Rogue!" I yelled suddenly and surprised myself, and I must have shocked Rogue a bit because she jumped slightly from her chair. "That isn't me! I'm not like that and I don't know why they think I am!" I looked up suddenly at Rogue and there was such hatred and coldness In my eyes that she drew back.

"Kit…"

"DON'T YOU KIT ME! HOW COULD YOU! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO THEM! THE X-MEN IS YOUR FAMILY AND HOME, AND YOU'RE GOING TO LEAVE THEM LIKE THAT!" I jumped to my feet and Rogue jumped to hers as I moved towards her threateningly.

"How could I do this to them Kitty! How could I!" Rogue's voice was growing louder but she paused and breathed deeply before carrying on in a calmer manner, yet I could still hear as her voice shook with trembling rage. "How could I Kitty? You want to know? Because they are NOT my family, they are NOT my home, they are companions and a part of my life; and every part of your life has to go sometime, why shouldn't their time be now? What's the point in staying Kitty? What have they got for me?" Rogue turned away from me as if embarrassed and spoke with her back facing me. "They haven't got anything for me Kitty, all I do is the same old thing; school, fights, _saving the world, _nothing is worth staying for. Now, here, I have something new and exciting; something that I can wake up to with a smile. I can leave all my troubles and problems behind and start again with new people who'll treat me as the x-men never did. I'll never be treated like a kid, I'll be trusted and respected and I'll never have to listen to the same old excuses, the same old lies. I'll leave all that mistrust behind and replace it with a new, trustworthy, interesting life that I really want." She turned to face me and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears; "it's better than that life, and it's better than no life at all." She looked at me and a single tear fell, before she turned away and walked out of the door never looking back.

I stood, with my mind full of what Rogue had just said and I suddenly smiled, not a Kitty smile or a triumphant smile, but a smile that wasn't the me smile that everyone knew…yet neither was my decision. I stared at the wall and suddenly turned watching as Psylocke stepped in the room. She looked at me and her face flashed with emotion; first pity then as she saw my face a look of confusion, before a smirk formed as realisation flooded her mind.

As if automatically her hand reached for my own and I let her hold it, before she smiled at me, and spoke; "come." And willingly I followed, the cold, heartless smirk never leaving my face.

VvVvVvV

As I was led into a room three heads turned to Psylocke and me before I was gestured to a chair in which I sat. Psylocke went to the side of a chair and spoke to the person seated in it, with her back to me.

"It is done, mistress. They have all excepted willingly, just as you wished." Psylocke looked at each of us in turn as she spoke with a look that couldn't be thought of as anything but evil.

The chair suddenly turned round to face each of us, Lexa, Wanda Rogue and me, and the woman in it smirked as she studied us in turn.

"Excellent, I am pleased Psylocke. They will be fed and shall then be prepared for their flight; it shall be an overnight trip. Their flight shall leave in two hours and shall be decently private, you may go." The woman turned to us and watched us as she spoke, making it clear as she said her last statement that we were to leave as well, and we all stood never taking our eyes off of the woman until we were gestured out of the door.

The girls left the room and Lady Deathstrike watched them as they walked out one-by-one, Lexa, Kitty, Wanda and Rogue. Such sweet girls now (hahaha! Yeh right) but soon to be such deadly killers. Lady Deathstrike sat in the silence for a while before she suddenly spoke into the emptiness:

"Four girls, so alike and soon to be even more so, yet they are so different, unique and special in their own individual ways;

Lexa Howlett; a dark midnight-blue rose, appears so soft and sweet, but is so dark and forbidding

Katherine Pryde; a dark violet sprig of lavender, smells so sweet, but such a deadly taste

Wanda Maximoff; a dark deep crimson poppy, so bright and delicate, but is the reminder of such death and destruction

Rogue; a dark hunter-green lily, so elegant and beautiful, but stands proudly over the tombstones of those it has slain."

End of Chapter

YAY! KITTY'S EVIL! Aren't I a nasty little bugger! Hehehe! So, yeh…all the girls are now evil and are heading on their way to wherever I decide to make them go! (don't worry I do have a plan :D) So, next chappie is the plane flight and their new home! Hope you all enjoyed the Kitty-turning-evil part and hope you all like it SOOOO much that you'll leave a little note of just how much (in other words; leave a review, whether you liked it or not.) You better; I am not happy because I have had my injections earlier today, two of them with one in each arm and my arms ache SO BAD! Besides, it didn't help that my brother punched one of my arms right where I had been injected! So yo are very lucky I'm even typing this and completing it today! Just shows how much I love you guys! Love Thrills, xxx


	8. Home…Evil Home?

Hey y'all! My girls are evil and I like it! Just hope you do to! YAY! Right, this chappie is where they move to their new home…and then it'll be skipping straight to about 2/3 years afterwards! See ya at the bottom of the page, Love Thrills xxx 

Ok y'all, new update of Chapter 8 because I have just received a GREAT idea from NaijaStrawberrie (after reading your review…yeh it does seem to forced doesn't it) so a section of the story is gonna be changing ok! Hope you like it better, if possible ;P Love Thrills, xxx

Responses:

**Zoë March: **Yay! I'm an idol! Evil Kitty is a good Kitty…or not! ;P Hunny, Kitty is already evil, she just turned it and yeh she probably will be more sadistic and stuff, but she will always keep that valley girl streak in her! Glad you liked my stuff about the lavender, I thought it was very nice; pure inspiration! How come you're a pincushion of needles? What's with all the needles 5 times a day for 2 weeks! Trying to update soon, and I would love to read your stories…but you'll need to sign in for me to access your account! Hope you will next review, if you leave one…please! Xxx.

**Kathrine212: **If I was given the chance of evil I don't know what I'd do…probably accept…kind of a moment thing really. What would you do? Be the bad girl or the goody-goody? Just read on and you'll find just what the girls like about their new home and exactly what they do. Hope you enjoy the chappie, xxx.

**Musagirl15: **glad you lovin' it, writin' more! Hope you enjoy xxx.

**NaijaStrawberrie: **Blimey! Was the part when Kitty turned down the evil and stuff really that unexpected! Oh well…just shows how good I am! ;P hehehe! Glad you liked the chappie, and I'm very glad that everyone, including you, likes the Kitty evil stuff! YAY! Hope to hear from you soon, and that you enjoy this chapter, xxx.

**Magcat:** Heya, I was beginning to wonder where your reviews had gone! Glad you liked all the confusion and stuff, but Psylocke can be VERY persuasive! Updating soon, oh and if you had the chance would _you_ turn evil? I dunno if I would…but I think I probably would…xxx. 

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

_"Telepathic thoughts are in italic and speech marks"_

Chapter 8

VvV Home…Evil Home? VvV

Rogue:

On a plane. Somewhere over Kentucky. Listening to music like the others. Sat next to Kitty who hasn't spoken a word since the flight, not a single word to anyone. Got a 'private' plane to ourselves; in other words shared with about 44 other people, well actually, with _exactly_ 44 other people. Three each row; Betsy by the window, Kitty, and me and on the other three seats next to ours is Wanda, Lexa and Polaris by the window. Me, Lexa, Wanda, Kitty and Betsy sat with headphones on, each with our own choice of music…Lorna sat with her eyes closed, peacefully relaxing and listening to the quiet hum of the aeroplane.

I sighed quietly, aware that no one heard and then I settled back into my seat and closed my eyes in peaceful relaxation; this is _the life_. No worries, no problems, just plain sailing from here! And I liked it! No, wait…I loved it! My life was vastly improving and nothing could get in my way, and nothing would ever get in my way again, simple luxury. As I settled back the track on my CD player changed and I quietly hummed along with the tune.

**  
Those who wish to follow me (My ghetto gospel)  
I welcome with my hands  
And the red sun sinks at last into the hills of gold  
And peace to this young warrior without the sound of guns. **

If I could recollect before my hood days  
I'd sit and reminisce, nigga and bliss on the good days  
I stop and stare at the younger, my heart goes to 'em  
They tested, it was stressed that they under.  
In our days, things changed  
Everyone's ashamed to the youth cuz the truth looks strange  
And for me it's reversed, we left them a world that's cursed, and it hurts.

Kitty:

I turned as I heard the tune of Ghetto Gospel coming from Rogue's earphones and I smiled; not one of my favourite tunes but definitely one that I liked. But suddenly my smile vanished and I frowned as I felt eyes watching me, but instead of facing them I leant back as Rogue had done and closed my eyes; 'let them watch, see if I care.' Just to make the point that I was ignoring the watcher very clear I turned up my music, drowning out any sound and any thoughts.

**I've been waiting patiently for him to come and get it  
I wonder if he knows that he can say it and I'm with it.  
I knew I had my mind made up from the very beginning  
Catch this opportunity so you and me could feel it 'cos. **

If you're ready for me boy  
You'd better push the button and let me know.  
Before I get the wrong idea and go  
You're gonna miss the freak that I control.

Lexa:

I watched Kitty, curiously; how could such a sweet and innocent thing be turned into something with such a cold glare that made your stomach squirm? I didn't understand, one minute we had been seated in a room; me, Wanda and Rogue, the next Psylocke had joined us to tell the mysterious person in the chair that Kitty wouldn't be joining us. And then that person in the chair had death-sentenced her but Rogue had jumped up and objected, and then requested to see Kitty and talk to her. Then after several minutes Rogue had come back with tears glittering in her eyes telling us all that Kitty would never join. So then Psylocke left the room looking downcast that she would have to lose Kitty, probably because Kitty was important to her. But _then_ the next thing we all know, Kitty is entering the room and looking at us with such a cold glare that I pushed my chair slightly away from her…luckily no one noticed. And after that we're all being told that actually Kitty accepted and then finally we're being sent away and next thing I know we're all seated on a plane flying over…where are we? Blimey! We're just entering the realms of Oklahoma…that's ages away from New York, wow…

I watched Kitty but noticed that she had leant back in her seat and closed her eyes and turned her music up; 'must have noticed me looking at her…oh well.' I shrugged to myself and leant back in my own chair, turning up my music, but instead of closing my eyes I looked up at the ceiling of the plane and watched it, imagining what would be awaiting us at the end of our journey.

**  
My love, my love, my love, my love  
You love my lady lumps,  
My hump, my hump, my hump,  
My humps they got you,  
She's got me spending.  
(Oh) Spendin' all your money on me and spending time on me.  
She's got me spendin'.  
(Oh) Spendin' all your money on me, up on me, on me **

What you gon' do with all that junk?  
All that junk inside that trunk?  
I'ma get, get, get, get, you drunk,  
Get you love drunk off my hump.  
What u gon' do with all that ass?  
All that ass inside them jeans?  
I'm a make, make, make, make you scream  
Make you scream, make you scream.  
Cos of my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump.  
My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps. (Check it out)

Wanda:

I smiled as I lay back in my chair; as we flew I was getting further and further away from father and Pietro than I'd ever been before, but this time it was willingly and it felt so good. They were gone, out of my life, soon to be out of my mind and away from me for good! My life had never felt so good and I loved the feeling, 'I could _so_ get used to this!'

**Seems like just yesterday  
You were a part of me  
I used to stand so tall  
I used to be so strong.  
Your arms around me tight  
Everything, it felt so right  
Unbreakable, like nothin' could go wrong.  
Now I can't breathe  
No, I can't sleep  
I'm barely hanging on. **

Here I am, once again  
I'm torn into pieces  
Can't deny it, can't pretend  
Just thought you were the one.  
Broken up, deep inside  
but you won't get to see the tears I cry  
behind these hazel eyes

VvVvVvV

The girls all sat in the lounge and stared at Psylocke who stood with her hands on her hips, frowning down at all four of the girls and waiting. As she was about to speak Polaris stepped into the room, frowning slightly and looked down at the girls who waited patiently for her to get on with it. Looking to her side at Psylocke, Polaris began to speak; "girls, as you are aware Gloria Smith was a very well known person in this neighbourhood, what is worse is the fact that she was loved and cared by many of the residents in this area; we have no choice. On Lady Deathstrike's strictest instructions we are to move away from here as the police are getting rather suspicious. You girls have no alibis and cannot make up any because the townsfolk have already made up their mind about the situation; you are guilty as charged." Rogue opened her mouth to speak but quickly shut it with a glare from Psylocke. "Oh no Rogue; your alibi has failed miserably; Mr. Jonkains followed you at a distance to make sure you did not get in any harm as you walked home and saw the direction in which you headed. There is nothing to do but move out, we have been here two years now and no missions have you yet failed, but this one has been a total ruin…we are to move tonight. Do not pack for you will not be taking anything with you, we will simply disappear without a trace."

As her words were spoken Polaris suddenly began to fade away in a twirl of mist, as did the room and everyone else before Kitty finally began to regain consciousness as she felt someone tug on her shoulder.

Kitty:

"Kitty, Kitty, wake up! We're nearly here girl, we'll be arriving in our new home in a couple of minutes so will ya just wake up! Kitty!" Rogue shook me harder and eventually I complied and opened my eyes, rubbing them to regain complete consciousness. As I awoke I sat up in my seat but was pulled sharply back down by my seatbelt, tugging at it I mumbled crossly before removing it and sitting up again. I looked to my left and smiled at Rogue who smiled back at me, then turned in her seat to lean on the chair infront that happened to be Psylocke's, and she carried on a conversation they had been having. The car was a black Ferrari F60 Proto, with dark purple strips running around the tyres and there was dark purple along the boot of the car in strange graffiti shapes (they look like Chinese symbols), it was Psylocke's and was her pride and joy. With two sections to it; two seats in the front, a driver's in which Psylocke sat, and passengers, which was empty apart from Psylocke's black mobile phone with purple fire running up it. Behind those seats were three others; one both side, in which Rogue and I sat, and an empty seat in the middle.

Overtaking us was a metallic grey Porsche Carrera GT, it had the same layout as Psylocke's car apart from in the back there were only two seats and in these sat Lexa and Wanda, Lexa closest to me, and driving it was Polaris.

"Oh! So that's the girl's game is it huh! Well she won't be beating me to our home I can tell you that girls!" Psylocke stopped her conversation with Rogue and stuck her tongue out at Polaris before turning to me, "Kitty, Luv, do us a favour and phase us through that hedge."

I smirked and quickly turned to stick my tongue out at Lexa and Wanda before grabbing hold of the car and yelling at Psylocke; "go!" Which is just what she did, driving straight through the tall hedge that obviously separated us from the house, and I was right. As soon as I had phased the car through the hedge it trundled onto a gravel driveway that circled around a massive oak tree before leading up to the garage and also the front door of our new house. Rogue, Psylocke and I looked up in awe at the gigantic mansion that waited us, sure our other house had been a mansion but it was nowhere near as large as this. Just as we got out of the car the gigantic, metal gates that led to the driveway swung slowly open and Polaris' car drove through. Wanda and Lexa sat in awe both squashed next to each other staring out of the window up at the house and the next moment they had both fallen out of the car as Psylocke telepathically opened it. Wanda fell onto Lexa and they glared daggers at Psylocke, who laughed at them, but then their attention was drawn straight back to the house. It was only when Rogue managed to levitate the keys out of Polaris' hand and shove them in the keyhole that everyone's attention was taken from the outer house and focussed on the inside. Rogue was the first to step in and I automatically followed by phasing through the wall, but stopped halfway through and stared around in awe.

The entrance hall was huge and extremely elegant, with a massive staircase with elegant banisters, and a posh, royal red carpet. An expensive chandelier dangled down from the ceiling that rose to the height of the second floor, and sparkled in its own light. The staircase was off to one side yet straight on was a big, spacious hallway with coat hangers and holders to put your shoes. I stepped fully into the house and began to walk down the hallway stepping into each room that led off it. Firstly was a library full of bookcases, and elegant sofas, and coffee tables in front of each one, with big windows filling it with light…well when there was light but it was dark now. The room opposite the library was a game room, with a computer on one side of the door and in a corner was a huge sofa that went in a big circle, obviously for socialising, with one gap to get in if you didn't want to jump over the sofa. Next to the sofa was another smaller sofa that was situated infront of a large wide-screen TV that was placed on the wall and beside that was a music system. I left that room and went into the next through a large archway, finding a large kitchen room with every electronic appliance you would ever need, yet this room had another large archway that I walked through and I found myself in the dining room. There was a big, rectangular wooden table in the middle with three seats either side and one at each end, and situated around the room on the walls were glass cabinets that held glasses, plates and bowls. There were also counters with draws that held cutlery and napkins and other useful things. Smiling as I looked around I stepped out of another archway that led from the dining room into the hall, and I walked up this a little way until I came to a set of posh, glass double-doors. I opened the doors and I was met with a sudden cool breeze that blew my hair about my face, and I stepped out before clasping my hands over my mouth with a gasp. I had stepped out into the garden and it was breathtakingly beautiful!

As I stepped out of the doors I walked onto a large, clean patio that gave a clear view of the gardens opening out beneath me, there were lounge chairs to one side and to the other was a large table with an umbrella, all flooded in light. This was all under a canopy and as I stepped away from the canopy and looked up I spotted three small, identical balcony's that would give a wonderful view of what I could see. As I stepped onto the patio and walked past the table and chairs I came to a set of steps which I descended and was then confronted with a choice. Should I turn left on the path and go to admire the pond, flowers and trees, or should I turn right on the path and head for the large hot-tub that was placed on decking with a large canopy above it. Or in fact should I step off the path either side and walk over the fresh grass and look at the different flowerbeds lined up along the fence. Yet I took neither of these ways, instead I followed the path straight ahead before being confronted with a gorgeous sight. It was a large, circular swimming pool with a diving board at the end opposite the house and with steps closest to me. The path went all the way around it and surrounding the path was more fresh grass and luscious flowerbeds that I decided to go and investigate. Yet as I walked off I felt eyes upon myself and looked towards the patio doors where Wanda stood and I waved at her before giggling at her speechless expression. I ran back towards the house and up the steps and reached Wanda, but I didn't stop to speak instead I took her hand and led her down the steps into the garden itself. "It's, like, totally gorgeous isn't it!"

"Yeh, it's beautiful, I am so glad we came!" Wanda looked around and smiled.

"Well, we, like, had no choice. After we completed our mission and killed that woman, Gloria Smith, we had no choice…"

VvV Flashback VvV

Wanda, Rogue, Lex and Kitty smiled satisfactorily at each other as they watched Gloria Smith plummet to the ground from the top of a fifty-story hotel (is that high?). Lexa and Rogue made sure their enhanced hearing was kicked in and they waited, before finally, they very clearly heard a satisfactory splat that told them their job was done. Looking down they all could clearly see the blood that had splattered everywhere and the girls all smiled before turning away and looking at each other.

"Another down, and we are, like, so in the business! Lady D will be so pleased." Kitty smirked.

"Ya, ah just hope everyone doesn't have too much mess to clear up!" Rogue cackled wickedly and looked down over the side of the hotel again, looking at all the people surrounding the mangled body.

"Ewww! Rogue, that's gross."

Change of Scene

Rogue stepped out of the front door of their mansion and looked about, she was just about to take another step but stopped short. She looked to her left and spotted her neighbours watching her through their curtains, but as she looked the curtain snapped back in place. She looked infront of herself and noticed her other neighbour mowing the lawn, but never taking their eyes off of Rogue.

(Neighbour's thoughts through Rogue's telepathy) _'Ha! Do you honestly think you can look at me with those cursed eyes! We know what you girls get up to; ever since you came those deaths started, we want you gone! Vermin like you don't deserve to walk the streets…murderer!'_

Rogue turned on her heel and ran to the front door, wrenching it open and running inside away from the accusing glares of the people who once greeted her happily and would always stop to chat with her. She ran into the living room and stopped short at the door, looking at Lexa, Wanda and Kitty who didn't look too happy.

"They suspect us! Tha whole neighbourhood!"

Kitty gasped but Wanda and Lexa only shook their heads as if they had suspected it.

"We guessed it would be something like that…Lady Deathstrike summoned Polaris and Psylocke and she sure didn't sound to happy…" Lexa nodded her head, agreeing with Wanda.

The girls all looked at each other and Rogue sat down on the sofa, "damn it! It's all John Policies' fault; we should have killed him sooner! If he hadn't of spoken…"

VvV Another Flashback VvV

John Policies lay in the hospital bed, his chest rising and falling with increased difficulty as he tried to speak to the policemen surrounding him, trying to make himself clear.

"The…the…" he stopped talking and was suddenly caught with a racking cough, after it died down he tried again. "The…the gir…the girls." He paused to take a deep breath and then he was about to carry on but suddenly a shot was fired and hit him right in the heart, killing him instantly.

VvV End of Flashback VvV

"We got him in the end, but he managed to get us back." Lexa sighed miserably, "what's gonna happen?"

"I have no idea…" Wanda sighed as well and watched as Kitty peeked through the curtain but drew back as if she was stung. "They still watching us?"

"Yeh, they, like, won't take their eyes off of our house…" Kitty sat down on the sofa again and frowned miserably but quickly looked up as Polaris and Psylocke stepped into the room.

VvV End of Flashback VvV

I smirked, "yeh well; we still got them both and it doesn't matter anyways, we're, like, so outta there for good!" we both looked at the swimming pool and watched the perfectly still water, a smile playing around both our lips.

VvVvVvV

_Meanwhile_

Rogue:

I stood in admiration, gaping at the large entrance hall I stood in; staring up in wonder at the extravagant chandelier that was sparkling up at the ceiling. As I spotted movement next to me I noticed Kitty making her way to the hallway opposite me, and as I watched her she disappeared into one of the rooms that led off of the hall. And reappear again in the hall, yet only for seconds as she stepped into the room opposite the one she had just entered, only to appear once again before moving further down the hall and disappearing into another room. I watched her for a while but then Wanda and Lexa who were standing behind me caught my attention. Seeming as I hadn't noticed before they must have been standing for a while as Lexa let me know of their presence with a slight outburst of impatience.

"ARE YOU GOING TO STAND THERE ALL DAY!" she demanded and fiercely pushed Wanda into me from behind, making us both stumble and causing Wanda to fall on top of me. Lexa paid no attention to either of us but gasped in awe at the entrance hall, most likely realising why I hadn't moved for a while. She stepped over Wanda and me, completely ignoring us and stared in wonder before Wanda finally let her have it and pulled Lexa's feet out from underneath her.

"Bitch." Wanda scowled as Lexa neatly flipped onto her hands and back onto her feet, dusting herself off lightly.

"What? It wasn't my fault that Rogue wouldn't move and that was the only way she would." I snarled at Lexa's comment and pushed Wanda off of myself, ignoring her grumbling as she stood and headed the way that Kitty had gone. I stood as well and watched as Wanda headed off before moving to stand next to Lexa, admiring the entrance hall with the sofas either side of the door and next to the staircase and the staircase itself. Then I turned my head to gaze up at the chandelier before using some borrowed powers (Jean's) to levitate up so that I was level with the chandelier and so I could examine it fully.

But I quickly looked down at the ground as I heard someone yell up at me, "Rogue! Get down from there!" Polaris stood with her hands on her hips glaring daggers at me and I got the hint, but instead of going back to where Lexa stood I flew over to the top of the staircase.

"Come on Lex, ya gonna come and explore this floor with meh?" I called down at Lexa who shrugged and followed me up the stairs at a leisurely pace. "Take ya tahme," I mumbled to myself.

"Alright I will." Lexa smirked in my direction but carried on walking and I watched her for a while, before running to catch up, we had just reached the first door and I had reached out a hand to open it. But then my hand drew back as I felt another hand on my shoulder and I turned to look up at Psylocke who smiled down at me.

"Sorry, Luv, my room so no entry." She smiled again and then pushed me and Lexa gently off further down the corridor.

"How do ya know that that's yahre room?"

"Coz I just decided." Psylocke winked at me and Lexa and disappeared behind the door, but then her head reappeared again, "the one opposite is Polaris' so if you know what's good for you, Luvs, keep out."

Lexa and me looked at each other and Lexa only shrugged before smiling and carrying on down the corridor, and I followed, but a call from behind us made us both stop.

"Hey, girls; Lexa, your room is the one next to Polaris', Rogue yours is next to mine and when Wanda and Kitty come up tell them that Wanda's is next to yours Lexa and Kitty's is next to yours Rogue." And once again Psylocke's head disappeared behind the door with another smile.

Lexa and me looked at each other and then at our doors, turning back to each other we both smiled and then opened the doors to our rooms to look inside.

I gasped as I entered my room; it was perfect! It was large, spacious, elegant and designed especially for me! I had never received anything like this, not in our last mansion and not with the x-men, I had to share a room with Kitty there, which meant the room was definitely _not _made for me…unlike this one. But then again…if Kitty hadn't kept on bringing up those fading memories of how we shared a room, I'm not sure I would of remembered. You see…all those memories, the reminders of that life, they were slowly fading…I could hardly remember what the x-men all looked like. As my life developed further my memories faded further, until one day, I know I won't ever be able to remember them again. I frowned slightly at this but then I shook my head and focussed back on my room…it was _gorgeous!_

My door was black facing the hall and had my name; Rogue, written in fancy scroll writing, in a metallic hunter-green that sparkled in the light from the chandeliers hanging from the hallway. The carpet was a rich, black and was very light and fluffy, so, as I removed my combat boots, my feet disappeared under all the carpet as I entered the room. The walls were painted hunter-green with oak borders along the top and bottom, varnished very dark, and it gave me a homely feeling; like I belonged here. As I walked in the door and looked to my left I saw an elegant hunter-green sofa, embellished as my own by the elegant, black scroll writing that said Rogue. The cushions were black with strange graffiti shapes the same colour as the sofa and they looked very similar to the graffiti shapes on Psylocke's car. Infront of the sofa was a glass coffee table with black painted wooden legs. The bed was huge, slightly bigger than a double and was made out of wood painted black; it had green curtain drapes at the sides, which were tied back with darker green ribbons. The duvet cover was the same green as the drapes and had the same graffiti shapes in black all over it, and the cushions were exactly the same as the ones on the sofa but a little bigger. Next to the bed was a side table, painted hunter green with a black lamp on it, but as I turned the lamp on it cast a beautiful green glow on the desk and it made me smile in satisfaction. Then I looked up and for the first time I noticed two doors next to my bedside table, and I decided to check them out.

As I entered the first one I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was really seeing what I thought I was; an ensuite! But when I rubbed my eyes it stayed there and again, for about the third time this evening I gasped. It was completely marble all over and as I turned on the light I saw it had an expensive chandelier, one very similar to the one hanging in my bedroom. It was the shower and bath that most surprised me though; the bath was very deep and had two steps to get up to it, and the shower was very large and a walk in. I tried it out and couldn't help laughing in surprise about how it had everything I needed. Before I stepped in there was a laundry chute to send my dirty clothes in, and a little cabinet hanging on the wall with items I might need to take in; soap, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, a shaver and quite a few more items. Then I walked behind a little screen that was steamed so no one could see you and it had an amazing shower; it was very big and extravagant with lots of different settings. There was a small hanger to hang up all the things which you needed (every one of the items had a hook you could use) and a little soap dish shaped like the flower of a lily (I wonder why ;P). Then as I stepped out of the shower there was a towel rail waiting for you to pick a hunter–green towel off and then the screen ended and you walked back into the main bathroom. I laughed slightly in delight, glad that no one could hear, and the sound echoed off the walls, so I laughed even louder causing it to echo more before I left, deciding to check out the other room next to this one.

As I walked through the door I didn't feel the need to gasp anymore but my eyes still widened all the same; a walk in wardrobe! I'd wanted one of those as a kid, and now finally my dream had come true…I was starting to wonder where all the wardrobes and drawers were. The design was the same as my room, with a rich, black carpet and green walls. As I entered there were large shoe racks on either side of the room on the walls and they reached up with five rows on each rack, and plenty of room for at least five pairs of shoes on each row. Then as I walked past the shoe racks I encountered the clothes rails, which actually had little sections; the first was for trousers, then skirts, and then shorts/three quarter lengths. Opposite those was a jumper/jacket/coat rack, then there was a top rack…much larger than any other rack…next to that was a very small section for swim wear, and next to that was a black chest of drawers for underwear. I smiled at this, it was so extravagant and over-the-top, but I really liked it all because it made me feel so special, like I was that important for all those different sections.

I walked out of the room and back into my bedroom and only then did I notice the black curtains next to my bed, hiding something from view. As I pulled them back and put them into their green ribbons I gasped again; they were hiding a balcony, a gorgeous rather large balcony…sure, I'd had balconies before but nothing like this. I pushed the double doors open and stepped out onto the marble balcony and looking to my left I spotted another sofa exactly the same as the one in my room. But I ignored this and stepped forwards up to the railings and looked out over the balcony, and the sight was beautiful; it showed me the whole garden and it was an awe-inspiring sight. I looked to my left and right and saw two other balconies, which I guessed to be Kitty's and Psylocke's and I was right, as I saw Psylocke step out onto her balcony with an audible gasp, as she clapped her hands to her mouth.

"Beautiful ain't it?" I spoke and Psylocke looked at me with a smile.

"It's gorgeous! I haven't seen anything like it before!" she smiled and turned back to the view and I looked back at it before heading back into my room to go and see Lexa and her new room.

As soon as I entered I knew Lexa loved her room; not one single thing, apart from the doors to the other rooms, had been destroyed. Her room was exactly the same as mine, apart from everything in my room that was hunter-green was replaced in her room by a midnight blue that matched with her hair, though her hair was a little darker. Also, carved into her blue sofa instead of Rogue was Lexa and Lexa was also carved into her door, as well as her lamp that let out a faint blue glow that I knew Lexa loved. I took a quick peek into the bathroom and that was exactly the same, apart from the rose shaped soap-dish and then I looked into her walk-in-wardrobe and that was the same apart from the midnight blue.

I heard Lexa sigh from the balcony and went to join her, as I took my place next to her Lexa never turned from admiring the view; and what a view!

From her balcony and (as I looked left and right) from Wanda's and Polaris' you could see the driveway and the huge gates, as well as a view of the forestry surrounding the house and the lane leading up to it. But what was even more amazing was the oak tree, it was very obvious but took up hardly any of the view…even though there was a branch that led right up to Lexa's balcony and another that led up to Wanda's. Obviously Lexa must have liked the branch as she leant over the railing of the balcony and played with the leaves that reached her fingertips and she sighed again. I smiled and looked over the forest never taking my eyes off of it even when she spoke to me.

"You like your room then?" she picked a leaf off and twirled it between her fingers delicately.

"Ya, ah love it! It's so…meh…ya lahke yours then?" I watched as a bird flew from one of the trees and a smiled played around my lips.

"Mmm…I love it, it's gorgeous, I couldn't want anything better…not that I could find anything better."

I smiled, "ya, same. Ma room at Xavier's was nothin' lahke this one which just makes it even more impressive." I sighed, "it's so meh…" I rested my elbows on the railing and gazed over the forest before stepping back from the balcony. "Ya wanna go and show Wand and Kit their rooms?"

"Yeh," Lexa smiled and let go of the leaf, watching as it slowly twirled to the ground before she made her way into her room after me.

We headed into my room and looked out over the balcony, seeming as according to Lexa's senses Wanda and Kitty were outside, and as we leant over the balcony we saw them talking and laughing with each other. We both smiled and watched them; to think, just two maybe three years ago they were the worst of enemies, and now they were the best of friends. I looked at Lexa and saw; by the way she was staring at the canopy beneath us, that she was thinking the same as me. Lexa noticed me looking at her and turned to me with a smirk on her face and nodded towards the canopy; we jumped at the same time, and she grabbed my hand as we did so I could use my levitating powers to soften the hit. We landed on the canvas silently and quickly slid down it, dropping down onto the ground with a very small thud that only Lexa and me would be able to hear from the distance Wanda and Kitty were at. We gradually crept down the steps leading to them until we were a few metres behind them both.

Lexa:

Rogue and me crept forward, never taking our eyes off of the girls, both smirking at how they never noticed us while we gradually moved closer. They stood with their back to us, standing and both staring at the swimming pool, centimetres away from the edge right where Rogue and me wanted them. They were oblivious as Rogue crept up behind Kitty and I crept up behind Wanda and as they laughed we took our chance and both leapt. I pinpointed Wanda exactly and shoved her roughly, standing and watching as she fell face-first into the swimming pool, but Rogue wasn't so lucky. She crept up behind Kitty and pounced, but instead of pushing her, Rogue went straight through falling herself face-first into the pool. I stared at her drenched form as Rogue surfaced, spluttering and indignant, scowling and muttering curses up at Kitty who stood with her hands on her hips, smirking proudly.

"Stupid, sodding bitch! Get me wet you fucking arse!" Rogue splashed the water with her fist, sending it all over Wanda as she resurfaced.

"Hey! Watch it! Lexa you fucking bitch I'll kill you!" she didn't do exactly that but she still used her powers to lift me into the air and drop me straight into the deepest part of the pool. "Stupid bitch!" I heard her mutter under her breath.

Kitty smirked down at Rogue, "serves you right; if that wasn't you it would have been me." She stuck her tongue out at Rogue but started as a voice rang out over the garden.

"GIRLS! GET OUT OF THE POOL AND STOP MUCKING ABOUT!" Polaris stood on Psylocke's balcony and glared at us, while Psylocke laughed in the background. We all grumbled apart from Kitty and got out of the pool, making our way towards the house, not before Rogue managed to push a distracted Kitty into the pool. She shrieked and fell in but was shouted at to get out of the pool and did so, glaring at Rogue who glared back.

"Would you guys grow up! We came out here to get you so that we could show you your new rooms." Wanda glared at me whilst I spoke but I ignored her and only stuck out my tongue at her once I had finished talking. And we all made our way inside, grumbling as we did and dripping water everywhere until Rogue used some powers (Amara's) to project magma all around us, drying us all off. We all mumbled thanks and made our way upstairs, heading straight for Kitty's room as we did and as we stood infront of the door all four of us fell silent and Rogue pushed the black door embellished with _Kitty_ open.

Kitty gasped and then squealed in delight, partially deafening me but I could only smile as I watched her running about her new room, examining every single object thoroughly. Her bedroom was the same as mine and Rogue's, but there was Kitty embellished everywhere and the midnight blue and hunter-green were replaced with a very dark purple that even I had to admit looked very stylish. Her desk lamp let off a faint purple glow that Kitty loved and gushed over, and her walk-in-wardrobe was squealed at, looking the same as mine but in purple. And Kitty almost screamed in delight at the bathroom, but contained herself, and gushed over her lavender shaped soap-dish. It was only when she discovered the black curtains that she finally let loose, she gasped in delight and squealed so loudly that it rang in my ears, not even bothering to pull them aside Kitty phased through them. Wanda looked at Rogue and me, and we both smiled before leading her through the curtains and double doors out on to Kitty's balcony, and Wanda gasped in amazement.

"Wow! It's beautiful!"

"Yeh, like, isn't it just." Kitty leant on her railings and stared wistfully at the garden, taking in all its full glory from where she was. "It looks twice as beautiful than when you're actually down there in it."

Rogue and me looked at each other and both couldn't contain our smiles, "wait till ya see yahre room Wand, y'all adore it, ah can just tell." With that Wanda, Rogue and me left the balcony and headed for Wanda's room and after a little while Kitty joined us in staring at the black door embellished _Wanda_, as Wanda placed a hand on the door handle and let herself in.

Our eyes were met with black and a deep scarlet colour, and Wanda gasped hugging her hands to herself in delight and pleasure. "My favourite colour!" She surprised us all by squealing in delight and throwing herself at the bed, lavishing in the scarlet bed cover and the scarlet hangings. "I love it!" She switched on her bedside lamp and smiled as a faint red glow appeared, before turning to the walk-in-wardrobe, which was red, and then lounging on her scarlet sofa, admiring the scroll writing that said _Wanda_. She ran to her bathroom and checked it out, walking through the walk in shower, admiring the poppy shaped soap-dish and playing with the soft, fluffy, scarlet towels hanging up. Then as she came back into her room she looked about and finally spotted the black curtains, pulling them aside she wrenched open the double doors and slowly stepped onto her balcony. She sat on her scarlet sofa and stared in awe at the forestry surrounding the house and the elegant gates, before finally standing to look at the oak that stood proudly to the left of her balcony, with a branch reaching to it. Wanda smiled and stroked the branch before turning to Rogue, Kitty and me, "I love it so much, I have never seen anything so perfect." We all smiled and stood with our arms linked, admiring the view before one by one we returned to our rooms.

I pulled apart the curtain drapes on my bed and lay upon the blue cover, sighing in contentment before lifting the cover up and sliding underneath; lavishing in the comforting homely feeling as my eyes clouded over and sleep claimed me.

End of Chapter

_(Hope you liked the newer version)_

Phew! Long chapter! Right, well that all explained the house and I hope I've given you a picture of what it looks like. What happened about them moving though? Well, see, they've been given missions to do like you do, and they mucked it up and everyone started to suspect them and before you know it, even though they've lived there for two years they have to move. So they move and now they're living in a new house, so it's all la-di-da! Oh and just thought I'd let you know everyone's ages now:

**Rogue** – 20

**Wanda** – 20

**Kitty** – 20

**Lexa** – 20

**Psylocke** – 32

**Polaris** - 34


	9. Dreams, Fantasies, Enraptures & Memories

La-di-da! Heya my pretties, how war you all doing? Hope you enjoyed last chappie; I know some of you did! YAY! Now then, this chappie is exactly what the title says…but also with a bit of a surprise…ANOTHER MISSION! IN THEIR NEW HOME, THAT _YOU_ GET TO JOIN THEM ON! YAY! Enjoy.

Responses:

**Musagirl15:** Glad you loved it…hope the details were awesome enough for you to get a good picture of their home. Love Thrills, xxx

**Zoë March:** If you left a profile thing on your review then it didn't come up…sorry! Try it again on the next review! You might want to check out last chapter again because I got some great advice from **NaijaStrawberrie **and Iupdated it to make it even better! Don't worry, Kitty will be _a load_ sadistic in this chappie, getting into her evil routine. Love Thrills, xxx

**NaijaStrawberrie: **After writing about their rooms…I WANT THEIR ROOMS TOO! They sound lush…if I may be so bold to say so myself ;P. Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOO much for your advice! That part did sound too forced when I looked at it, but now that it's changed I hope it sounds A LOT less forced and even better! Liked the flashback idea as well…note; I used it ;P glad you liked the chappie anyway, and hope you like it even more. Love Thrills, xxx

**Magcat: **Why ever _not_ purple, that's the type of colour Kitty would go for…and besides, I like that colour and so does Kitty…and it fits in with my part about Kitty being a dark purple sprig of lavender. Don't you like the colour purple? (Note; my room is purple, so watch it! ;P) Updating as soon as possible. Love Thrills, xxx

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

_"Telepathic thoughts are in italic and speech marks"_

Chapter 9

VvV Dreams, Fantasies, Enraptures and Memories VvV

Kitty:

I ran, as fast as I could away from them all, away from their accusing glares and their hurtful taunts but I couldn't run fast enough. Cannonball flew along side me and pushed me so I fell, skidding painfully along the ground and landing in a heap but suddenly I was lifted from the ground. I looked infront of me and saw Jean lifting me using her telekinesis and I smiled at her gratefully, but then I noticed how her lips twisted in a smirk before she flung me to the side into a wall. I smacked into it with a crunch and slid down the wall, wincing in agony as I watched through squinted eyes as they came for me. Scott held his hand to his visor and looked ready to shoot, Jean held her palms on her head lifting me to a standing position, and Logan had his claws out snarling ferociously at me like an animal. Kurt's tail swished teasingly from side to side as he approached me with his fists positioned threateningly infront of himself, Bobby, Amara and Roberto covered themselves in their element forms and advanced on me. Beast held a needle in his hand laughing evilly at the terror filled within my eyes whilst Storm flew into the air, making the sky go black and causing thunder bolts and lightning to race across the sky. Berzerker and Jubilee both held their hands out and made their powers flash at me, the electricity coursing through my body and the fireworks singing my outfit. Tabitha stood nearby and cackled, holding three of her bombs in her hands and looking ready to roll them towards me. Rahne howled to the moon and turned into a full wolf, snarling menacingly as her claws flashed in the moonlight, showing just how sharp they were. But they all suddenly stood still as a single figure came out of the darkness and stepped into the pool of light created by the moon, a single flash of lightning coursed through the sky and illuminated his face.

"Lance…" I whispered to the night, but he never acted as though he heard me because he stood still facing me and glaring.

"You left." His voice was cold and was full of hatred, as he spoke the others around him echoed his voice. "You left me, you left us all. We hate you Kitty, no one loves you anymore; traitor, liar, thief…." Lance paused before hissing the last word as if it were venom, ignoring the lightning as it coursed through the sky as he spoke it, and the thunder that clashed; "_murderer_!" He looked to his left and so did I, following his eyes to the Professor and my parents who stood beside him.

Lance must have asked a question with his eyes or by some means I could not see or hear for the Professor nodded, "you have our blessing Lance, no one cares for her anymore and no one will miss her."

Lance looked at me and smiled coldly, with such hatred and disgust in his eyes before clenching his fists. The ground about me began to shake and I stood helpless in Jean's telekinesis as the wall behind and around me fell, crushing me beneath it. I whimpered in pain as everyone's laughed echoed mercilessly around me, I was dying I could feel it, the bricks lay heavily upon my chest stopping my breath short. I couldn't breath, my world was spinning but then I heard a voice it echoed in my mind and suddenly I heard it clearer.

"Kitty! Kitty! Wanda, Lexa, have ya seen her yet? Ah can't fahnd her!" My breathing increased as I tried to speak but the bricks upon my chest stopped me short. "Lexa can't ya smell her out?"

"No, the dust and everything is blocking her scent…but if everyone was really quiet I might be able to hear her breathing." The world around me went quiet and I started to breathe heavily, as loudly as possible until finally I saw a shadow appear above me. "ROGUE! ROGUE! I'VE GOT HER!" the shout was loud but to me it seemed distant, until suddenly a great weight was lifted from my chest and my world began to become clearer, my breathing becoming easier.

"KITTY! OH MA GAWD! KIT!" Rogue's face appeared as more bricks were removed and then finally she lifted me from the rubble and cuddled me to her chest like a mother. "Don't worry Kitty, everything is alright, as long as you have Lexa, Wanda and me everything will be ok…" Rogue's voice suddenly began to fade and everyone began to disappear in a twirl of mist before finally I shot up in bed.

My breathing was quick and I was sweating all over, "oh god…oh my god! Oh god…" my breathing began to slow down and I lay back down on my bed closing my eyes, glad it was all just a dream. "Just a dream…not a very nice one…but still a dream…" I smiled in spite of the dream, glad it was over. "Well, it was a dream and it's over…besides, I'm with Lexa, Wanda and Rogue so everything is ok, that will never happen, I'll be fine, I _am_ fine." I rolled over on my bed, propping up on m elbows and I smiled again to myself, "everything's fine and it always will be."

Rogue:

I woke up at around 11:00am and lazily opened my eyes, staring up at the ceiling above me and the canopy hangings around me, I smiled sleepily and sat up. As I sat I turned around so my legs hung off the side of the bed and I pulled the green hangings back, tying them up neatly so it looked as it had when I came. I stood up and smiled gracefully, so happy to be somewhere that is new…again maybe, but still; fresh and new. The first thing I did was walk to the hangings hiding my balcony, and pulled them back, opened the doors and breathed in deeply; that fresh, morning smell clinging to the air. I walked onto the balcony and leant on the railings, smiling as the wind swept over my face loving that rushing feeling, loving the way it cooled me. I folded my arms onto the railings and leant my head against them, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath of satisfaction before I let my mind wander.

My eyes fluttered open and I looked up, smiling at the person leaning over me; his trademark smirk plastered across his face, watching me and my every move with expectation.

I sighed, "fahne, ya win." He smirked even more at that and brought his head to mine, claiming me in a short, sweet kiss; tender and loving. As his head lifted from mine I brought a hand to it and pulled it straight back down, crashing his lips against mine in a more intensified kiss that he gradually deepened, as I knew he would. His hand traced along my body, lining each curve and dip with a soft tickle of his fingers and I laughed softly into our kiss, making him smile happily. He broke the kiss and stared down at me, his eyes full of smouldering lust and he kissed my lips again, short and sweet before tucking a bit of stray hair behind my ear.

He stared down at me and smiled again, "Chere…"

As my mind echoed with that word I shot up from my arms, shaking my head to rid myself of the torture of the word that haunted me. 'Why? I never even really knew him…but after New Orleans…we just, well, we just fitted together; Remy and me.' I shuddered at the memory, such a sweet picture but such a torturing memory; haunting me whenever I let my guard down. My mind raced with the memories; the moment I woke after he captured me, his face so close to mine, his body leaning into me. That time I accidentally absorbed him, I straddled his hips as he leant away from me; I wanted so badly to pull his sexy body to mine and crush his lips against my own. All those memories, never fading, never leaving; always there and forever haunting. I leant my head on my arms again, turning my eyes away from the sun; something so bright and joyous, at this moment it taunted me, as my heart was ripped to shreds by the mere thought of Remy. It would never happen, he was so far away, I haven't seen him for over two years, that would never ever happen; it was a dream…just a dream and never more…(NOOOOO! ;P)

Lexa:

I twirled the leaf through my fingers, watching as it spun around and around until finally it slipped through my fingers and fell to the ground. I watched it as it fell, spinning and twirling in the wind, before it was finally picked up and blown away over the forest, out of my sight. My hand reached out to the oak tree and I ran a finger over its branches before I looked around to see if anyone was looking, and when I spotted neither Wanda nor Polaris on their balconies I pushed myself onto the railings. I sat there for a while and looked at the ground beneath me before my legs reached to the branch and I placed both feet onto it, standing up before I moved along it slightly and sat down. Swinging my legs underneath me, I looked around and felt so much more in touch with the world, I sat there for a while and then stood again, making my way back onto the balcony. I jumped from the railings and walked back into my room, welcoming the retreat from the blare of the sun shining into my eyes. I looked around and walked over to my bed, tying the hangings back before walking to my door and heading downstairs to breakfast. I reached the stairs and slid down the railings, landing perfectly at the bottom and going off in search of life that I soon found quickly enough; Kitty lounged on one of the sofas in the library, a thick romance novel in hand. I watched her for a bit, staring at how her face changed as she read different parts before she finally got a bit unnerved.

"Can I, like, help you or something? I mean, I know I'm, like, gorgeous and everything but you don't have to stare." She rolled her eyes at me as I continued staring, and hid her face behind her book giving me a hint. I took it and walked out of the room, and headed into the kitchen only to be encountered by a frying pan flipping pancakes into the air, I looked to my right, through the archway and saw Psylocke seated at the table. She raised her left hand to me in greeting but never put down her own book, apparently another romance novel.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to her, tilting her book down so she would look at me. "Yes, Luv?"

"You might want to check the pancakes." I smirked as she gave me a look of confusion and looked past me into the kitchen.

"SHIT!" she slammed her book down and ran into the kitchen to receive her pancakes from the ceiling ignoring my laughing as she finally managed to peel them off using her powers. "Shut up Lex, it isn't funny." I laughed again and made my way out of the dining room and to the double doors that led outside. I walked through them and down the steps, turning left towards the pond and the clump of trees surrounding it. I quickly looked around and spotted a suitable tree that I climbed, perching on the branch and taking out Psylocke's book that I had nicked when she had her back turned.

"Lustful Obsession," I read the title and flicked through the book before turning it over and reading the blurb out loud to myself.

"_My life is full of choices, but there are some I'd rather not have. Sacha and Nik are so close; the greatest friends you could ever meet, but you put one other person in the picture and they fall apart. But that's just the problem – Nik kept making moves on me that I just couldn't resist and now I'm the one in the picture, the exact place I didn't want to end up. It's tearing Nik and Sacha apart, and she'll do anything to split us up; what do I do? Do I do what I know is right? Or will this lustful obsession lead me down another path?_"

"Ooh. Sounds interesting." I turned the book back over and opened it to the first page, and soon I was enraptured by it so much that I didn't notice Wanda walk down the steps towards the pool.

Wanda:

I stood at the double doors, staring out and I sighed, it was all just so perfect, early in the morning…about 11:00am…the sun was fully up and shining over the garden. 'Then again…I prefer it at dark…' I sighed and but I walked down the steps anyway and headed straight for the pool. Situated by the pool and underneath an overhanging tree, in the shade, were six lounge chairs (or are they called sun beds?) I pulled one out and sat on it. Then I pulled up one of the six side tables for the chairs and placed a book and a pair of shades onto it before leaning back onto the chair, closing my eyes and putting my shades on. I smiled and opened my eyes, then grabbed my book off the table and started to read, blissfully enraptured by the Gothic horror novel. As I read my book my eyes began to close, slowly and soon I was falling asleep; my mind relaxing with the sounds of birds softly singing and the bees humming in the garden.

VvV Flashback VvV

I sat in the Mountain Trolley (is that what it's called?) looking at the view and I sighed, leaning my head on my hands but I looked up slightly as someone spoke from next to me.

"Quite a view don't ya think?"  
I turned to look at the man who spoke, "what?

"Going up for the skiing?" He smiled at me in a sickly way, that made my stomach crawl.

"No, why?"

"I'm a skiing fool Babycakes!"

I clenched my fists, "TOAD!" As I yelled at him, Toad appeared in front of me in his natural form.

"Awwww! What gave me away?" he frowned in thought but I never answered and used my powers to fling him out of the trolley.

The trolley landed a few moments later and I walked out, scowling in annoyance. A gust of wind blew into from behind me and suddenly my scarf came off and got carried away by the wind, I put out a hand to catch it but I wasn't quick enough and it flew away. But suddenly someone came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry miss, I'll get it for you." I turned to look at the person but as I did he suddenly hopped away after my scarf.

"TOAD!" I yelled again and flung him away using my powers, before catching my scarf and bringing it back to myself. I clenched it in my fists and twisted it in fury, "that annoying little creep!"

VvVvVvV

I stood and looked over the snow, trying to spot any clue as to where my father was. I turned around and looked behind at the ski lift when a faint orange glow caught my eye, I looked up at the ski lift seats above me and suddenly I spotted Pyro. "Got you now!" I hissed and I hurried over to the ski lift and jumped into a seat putting my snowboard on as it left the station and moved up the mountain. At first I ignored the person seated next to me, but after a little while he spoke to me and I took my eyes off Pyro to turn and look at him.

"Fine day for skiing yea?"

"Yeh, it's beautiful."

"I'm Eric…uh…the ski instructor," the guy smiled brightly at me. "I haven't seen you here before."

"No I…" I turned to look in front of me to check on Pyro, when suddenly I noticed he had gone, as I looked at the snow beneath me I spotted him going off into the distance. "…I gotta go!" I jumped off the ski lift and landed perfectly on my board, heading off for Pyro. I followed him closely as he snow-boarded through trees until finally he reached a small cliff that he jumped off, this time I didn't follow. I watched as he snow-boarded a bit further on until he approached a large metal sphere, he went through the opening and got in it before the sphere lifted off the ground. "Magneto!" suddenly a sphere appeared in front of me and my eyes widened in surprise, until it opened; releasing some kind of gas that started to make me feel woozy, until I finally passed out.

VvVvVvV

I gradually opened my eyes, blinking as my sight came back to me and then I remembered what had happened and I sat up, but I was pushed back down by my restraints. Magneto stood in front of me, looking very proud of himself and I snarled at him in anger.

"Now, now Wanda, that won't do. I'd expect you to be more polite to me, after all I am your father and all I want is a little chat with you; father to daughter. Leaving you in that hospital was the hardest thing I ever had to do, and I want to start it all over; a new beginning."

I laughed slightly; "well I don't want anything to do with you."

Magneto frowned slightly at me and shook his head, "your quest to eliminate me is too large a liability, if you won't co-operate then I shall do it by other means."

I frowned in confusion and watched as he used his powers to open a door and a man came in, he was rather hairy and looked very sinister. He walked up to Magneto who turned to look at me with a slight frown, "Mastermind will delve into your memories and alter them…I just hope your mind isn't too damaged by the process." He turned away from me and walked out of the door leaving 'mastermind' and me alone, Mastermind looked at me curiously and then brought his hands near my temples. Suddenly an image flashed into my mind; two men in white coats were dragging me up the steps of an old building. I watched as father and Pietro stared at me going, but suddenly the mage was gone and my father was lifting me up and placing me on a horse on a Carousel. I cried out in frustration and slight emotional pain as Mastermind went through my memories and changed them; altering them. My cries grew louder and I twisted and turned, trying to escape but I couldn't get away.

"NO GET OUT! NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! NO!"

VvV End of Flashback VvV

"NO! GET OUT!" I screamed and yelled as the images raced through my mind but suddenly I felt myself being pulled away from it all as I was shook side to side.

"Wanda!" I heard a cry through my own, sounding desperate and I was shook more vigorously.

"Lexa, don't shake the poor girl. Wanda?"

"Oh ma gawd! Wanda wake up!"

"Wanda, please wake up hun, please!"

"Get out of the way, move! Wanda!" a voice spoke soothingly into my ear and the person cuddled me whilst stroking my hair. "Wanda, Luv, wake up."

"No…no…no…" my cries got less and quieter as I was rocked softly back and forth, before I slowly opened my eyes and looked up at Betsy who smiled down at me.

"It's alright Wanda Luv, you were just reliving some nasty memories, it's ok." She smiled at me and I looked behind her at Kitty, Rogue, Lexa and Lorna (Polaris) who all gazed worriedly down at me.

"Don't ever do that ta meh again Wanda! Oh ma gawd, ya scared tha hell outa meh!"

"Wanda if you ever do that to us again…I don't know what I'll do!"

"God Wanda, don't freak us like that!"

I rolled my eyes at everyone and sighed in annoyance as Betsy checked me over to see I was perfectly ok. "I think Wanda will be fine, but I'm taking you to your room and you're to go to bed, you understand me." Betsy started to lift me up but I protested.

"I'm not disabled you know, I can walk!" She helped me stand and we walked inside up to my room and I lay onto my bed covers, as Betsy undid the hangings and let them fall down, hiding her from view.

"Get some sleep now." I listened as she walked away and rolled onto my side, breathing deeply before I closed my eyes again but this time I slept peacefully.

VvVvVvV

I woke much later on in the day and looked around, wondering why I woke up but as I looked at where my hangings should have been I found my answer as Rogue smiled at me.

"Hey there"

"Heya, ya slept fohr ages."

"Really? What time is it?"

"It's fahve in tha afternoon, yah've been out fohr six hours."

"Not that long then," I smiled and Rogue rolled her eyes teasingly, but smiled back. "Why'd you wake me?"

"We've got a mission; ya need ta be up, dressed and in yahre outfit in fahve minutes. Polaris managed ta get back ta tha old house and grab our outfits and some underwear fohr us all."

I smirked, "10 minutes then?"

Rogue rolled her eyes again, "fahve or ah'll have ta drag ya down there mahself."

She left me and I lay on my back wanting to snuggle down but instead I sighed and rubbed my eyes roughly, before swinging my legs over the side of my bed and getting up. I yawned and stretched my arms then made my way into my walk-in-wardrobe, grabbed my outfit and a new set of underwear before heading back into my room and into my en-suite bathroom. I dumped the clothes in my hand on the floor and removed the clothes I was wearing before stepping into the walk-in-shower, grabbing a bottle of shampoo, conditioner and soap.

Just over five minutes later I was finished and standing in front of one of the hall mirrors, looking at my outfit.

I wore a scarlet spandex, with slits on the right leg at my upper thigh, I also had two slits on my upper waist showing my pale skin. I wore a black belt that hung loosely around my hips and I wore another black belt underneath my bust, the black belt around my waist had the words

_Scarlet Witch_

On it, printed in scarlet. Almost reaching the floor was my dark scarlet trench coat that was almost the colour of blood and it had jagged slits running up it at the bottom. My shoulder length hair looked as it usually did and the scarlet tips of it swung about my face and my velvet choker, which was dark red and had a black cross dangling from it. I also wore matching black earrings that swung as I moved my head to check out the whole of my outfit. My two-inch heel boots were a lighter shade of scarlet than my coat but darker than my spandex and reached my mid-thigh, with three black belts on each boot. I had all my usual dark gothic make-up and my nails were freshly painted a dark-scarlet, matching my trench coat, and I blew on them as I made my way downstairs. (She's wearing the outfit from x-men evolution…her outfit for when she's older…which she is.)

I decided to head for the living room (game room) guessing that's where everyone would be. I guessed correctly and saw Lexa and Rogue seated on the circular couch and went to join them, climbing over the sofa and sitting myself next to Lexa who sat by Rogue.

I smiled at Rogue's outfit; it was her pride and joy, she loved it more than any outfit in her wardrobe and she showed it, she hated getting it dirty and if you ripped or damaged it in _any_ way…you'd regret it. It was like a one-piece swimsuit but with a full back and it reached up to her neck, and went all down her arms and legs. It was a hunter green, but it had a bright yellow triangular shape, starting from the neck of her spandex and forming a triangular shape down to her inner thigh. Hanging loosely from her hips was a yellow belt with the words

_The Rogue_

Printed on it in hunter-green, and she played with it with her gloved hands, the gloves were yellow as well and the ends looked like they were rolled up slightly. She also had longs yellow boots that reached her mid-thigh, with two green straps around the top half of them, the straps matching perfectly with the green ribbon tied around her head like a bandanna (is it a bandanna?). She also wore a dark brown jacket that reached her mid-waist and was a light brown colour with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her hair looked as it had done for a year now, Rogue had decided to let it grow longer and it now reached her lower back, curling naturally, with the white streak running straight down the middle of it all. It suited her and made her look more mature and grown up, yet it did cause her to stand out a bit in the crowd, although that was one of the reasons she loved it. (This is her outfit on the Original X-men…trust me, it looks really funky check it out; go to **google ** and type in Marvel Directory-Rogue then click on the one that says Marvel and look at the third/fourth picture down. It looks SO COOL!)

Lexa sat next to her and fiddled with her outfit, one that she had changed repeatedly over and over but had now finally stuck with, as this was her favourite version. She wore black leather trousers that hugged her thighs and gripped her legs, ending in knee-high, blue and black combat boots. She wore a black belt that also had words printed on it, but this time they were dark blue and read

_X - 23_

Her top was dark blue and strapless, reaching to her neck and rapping around it like a choker, it was missing most of the back but that was covered by her midnight-blue hair, which looked as it usually did; draping loosely to her mid-back. On each hand she wore black gloves that reached an inch above her elbows, with the two tiny metal disks on each where her claws came out. She also had a single black band rapped around her upper left arm, with X – 23 printed on it. (These clothes are basically what she wears in the future X-men Evolution, when she's older…which she also is.)

Lexa smiled at me and Rogue pointedly looked at the clock, which hung directly opposite her.

I used my powers to make it shake and she glared at me, "I get the point Rogue; but only be about three minutes."

"Whatevah." Kitty entered the room as Rogue spoke, carrying a glass of Coca-Cola and phased through the sofa, sitting down next to me.

She looked very different from when she was with the x-men, being older and matured…and slightly less…preppy and a bit more Goth-like, nowhere near as much as Lexa, Rogue and me though. She had taken longer than any of us to pick out her outfit, but the time was well used. She wore a long-sleeved, dark purple top that reached two inches above her belly button in a V-shape, it went up her neck like a choker and the arms ended like gloves, but finger-less. She wore black leather trousers like Lexa's but on her right leg was two dark purple straps; one had the letter S on it and the other had the letter C printed onto it. She wore a belt loosely around her hips like Rogue, Lexa and me but hers was dark purple and had the words

_Shadow Cat_

Printed onto it. Her dark purple boots reached up to her mid-thigh, with two black straps on the top half of the left boot. Her hair now reached just to her chin, and was fashioned so it curved around her face with the two front bangs still very obvious, however it was much darker as she had dyed it the colour black, suiting well with her outfit. Kitty wore a bit more make-up than she would have done with the x-men and it was darker and slightly more obvious than before; giving her a slight aura of a Goth. (These clothes are also basically what she wears in the future X-men Evolution, it really suits her.)

"Thanks for getting us one." Lexa frowned and mumbled.

"No probs." Kitty smirked at her and Lexa went to get her own glass, not even turning back to ask if Rogue or me wanted one.

"Yeh ah would lahke one thanks."

"Same."

"Do I look like a servant to you!" Lexa yelled back. But she reappeared moments later with three glasses in hand and handed one to Rogue and one to me before sitting down. Lorna and Betsy appeared just moments later, both levitating their own glass, Lorna's being specially made out of metal.

"Would you all stop shouting," Lorna grumbled and went to the gap in the sofas and sat down.

"It's giving me a headache," Betsy levitated over the sofa and landed opposite Lexa, Rogue, Kitty and me before sitting down whilst taking a sip of her white wine. "Now then, to business." Psylocke used her telekinesis to open one of the drawers in the desk next to the door and stood up and walked out of the sofas over to the open drawers, taking out a stack of papers that she handed to Rogue before sitting down.

"What's that?"

"I'm glad you asked Lexa," Psylocke looked at Polaris who nodded. "They are blueprints showing a diagram of Emma Frost's home; more commonly known as the White Queen." Rogue and Kitty shared a glance and turned back to the papers, whilst Lexa and me leant over Rogue's shoulder to read them. "She is a very important member of a group called the Hellfire Club, and is at a very high rank in it; the white king/queen and black king/queen being the four highest members. Several years ago Lady Deathstrike and White Queen were doing business together, yet White Queen betrayed Lady Deathstrike leaving her to her death. Unluckily for White Queen, Lady Deathstrike survived due to sheer luck and is now on the warpath having finally discovered the reason of betrayal. White Queen heard tell of quite a precious relic whilst in business, but she knew Yuriko would never consent to her plan to gain the relic and therefore planned in advance. She created her own mission for the two of them that would give her access to the relic, and managed to convince Yuriko to attend. The two of them arrived at where the relic was situated, yet being enclosed in an ancient temple, the way to the relic would be highly dangerous and no doubt booby trapped. It most certainly was, and one of the final traps was a two-way system; one way led to the relic and the other…to death. Emma had received a short period of time to do research and therefore had no idea which way to go; exactly her reason to bring Yuriko, as she feared a decision of such. Unluckily for Emma she took the wrong route but managed to escape death by a matter of timing and therefore headed the other direction after Yuriko, bringing death after her. She somehow created a diversion for Yuriko who didn't spot Emma's reason for flight until it was too late. Emma escaped and left Yuriko to her death, yet she struck and defeated the presence and earned her name; Lady Deathstrike. Now Yuriko has finally discovered the relic and it's purpose, and she needs it, which is now possible having discovered its location…however," Psylocke looked at Polaris who nodded again. "However, White Queen's home is one of the most difficult homes to access, with one of the top security systems and the fact that it is always full of people, whether servants or other Hellfire members. It will be highly difficult to access and even more so at the fact that she rarely leaves, and Emma would be one hell of a mutant to handle. She has various telepathic abilities; she can read minds and project her thoughts into the minds of others, as I can, yet she can also project psionic force bolts that can render her victim in increasing mental pain or unconsciousness. She can also induce mental pain by merely touching her victim's brow, and Emma can even 'sedate' her victims rendering them unconscious and they will remain so for as long as she sedates them. She also is quite a hand-to-hand fighter, and is experienced with it this therefore makes her a mutant that you would not wish to cross, also because if you do manage to cause her harm you will have the Hellfire's to face. She is extremely skilled, highly dangerous and very well protected; being in the inner circle of the Hellfire Club."

Kitty and Lexa raised their eyebrows and Rogue sat reading the blueprints, whilst I simply stared at Psylocke and Polaris. "Well let's go then, after all…we have been trained for this kind of thing."

Kitty stared at me, "Wanda are you mad! We've never done anything like this, all our other tasks were to get rid of unwanted people…we've never gone up against something or someone like this!"

"So, we've still been trained for this kind of thing."

Kitty shook her head and sighed whilst quietly muttering to herself, "mad…completely bonkers…"

I rolled my eyes, ignoring Lexa who smirked at Kitty and me, and instead I looked over at the blueprints, listening as Rogue muttered to herself. "Just a bit big, huh?" I said to myself, and looked up at Polaris.

"She is highly prised and very rich; enjoying a life of pure luxury and the most extravagant riches."

"I can tell…"

VvVvVvV

Rogue sat next to me in our private jet, and Lexa and Kitty sat on the two seats next to us chatting about the luxuries of Emma Frost's home. Rogue sat in silence and I hummed to myself, absentmindedly thinking of the task ahead…in about ten minutes the jet would be landing and Rogue would be porting us into Emma Frost's home, 'oh joy.'

I looked out of the plane a couple of minutes later and sure enough, in the distance situated on a hill was the biggest, most extravagant looking home I had ever seen. "Hey, guys; check it out!"

Rogue turned to me, "check what out?"

"That!" I pointed out of the window and Rogue, Kitty and Lexa all looked out.

"Oh ma gawd!"

"That is, like, now officially the house of my dreams!"

"Wow! Bit extravagant ain't it!"

We all stared out and watched as we gradually got closer, before the plane started to land and the house disappeared behind a clump of trees, but I had a feeling that we would be seeing it from a different angle in a short while.

VvVvVvV

Lexa:

BAMF Rogue teleported us all into a tree situated right next to the house, but she made sure we were hidden from view by the branches before speaking to us. "Rahght, we're outside tha back of tha house ok?" I nodded with the other two and she carried on talking; "first thangs first, ah'm just gonna locate all tha cameras and short circuit them." Rogue closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again, with a smirk planted on her face. "Easy as pie…now then, you all know your jobs?" we all nodded and Rogue rubbed her hands together, "rahght, let's go!"

I jumped out of the tree, landing cat-like and watched as Kitty followed suit, phasing her feet through the ground so she didn't take an impact. I looked up and used my enhanced sight to peer through the branches, and sure enough; Rogue and Wanda were climbing up the tree to a better viewpoint, their communicators at the ready. I turned to look at Kitty and she smirked at me before running off out of the cover of the trees, but before she had even left the cover she took a deep breath, covered her nose and mouth and phased into the ground. My communicator crackled slightly as Wanda's voice came through.

"Right then Lex, phase one complete, your turn."

I nodded to myself before sprinting along the building, under cover of trees but I stopped when I saw the line of trees ending, looking up I spotted Wanda in the branches above me peering out into the back driveway, where the trees ended. She nodded to herself before bringing her communicator to her lips, "ok, phase two; there is no one about yet, so you'll have to wait a little while." I rolled my eyes and sat on the ground prepared to wait, but suddenly Wanda's voice crackled through. "Forget that Lexa, there's someone coming; looks like a service truck to me." I waited a while and then Wanda spoke again; "yep, that's the one we want…right on time to." I looked at the time on my communicator; 18:25, 'yep, right on time.' I waited a little while until I heard footsteps on the gravel, "right then Lexa, there's only one of them; perfect opportunity coming up…" she paused, "…NOW!" I sprung out of the trees, swiftly and silently before grabbing the woman by the neck and dragging her back into the trees. I hit her on the head and she was out, before I undressed her, dropped her onto the ground next to me and dressed myself in her outfit.

I spoke onto the communicator, "is it safe to go?"

"Yes…wait, no; someone's looking out the window…they've gone; you can go now." I sprinted out of the trees and ran to the back of the van, depositing the woman and my outfit in the back before grabbing a tool kit and walking up to the door. I rang the bell and gave a quick glance to Wanda who put her thumbs up and then someone opened the doors.

"Good evening mahm, may I help?"

"Yes thank you," I took out a wallet from my breast pocket and showed it to the maid. "Ploombers plumbers at your service mahm."

"Oh, yes. Of course, come right in." I followed the lady inside, managing to hide a smirk at the ease of it all.

VvVvVvV

Kitty:

I covered my nose and mouth before phasing through the ground, I ran along for a while and Rogue voice appeared from the communicator; "you can come up now Kit, I can sense you're underneath some kind of launderette." I smiled in relief and stuck my hands out of the ground, pushing onto the tiled floor beneath them, and levered myself back above ground.

"Yup, I'm in."

"Excellent…wait, I can sense someone heading your way." I looked around and covered my nose and mouth, and phased back into the ground. Several moments later and Rogue's voice came back on in a whisper, "her feet are right above your head, grab her." I did just that and phased the woman though the ground, before pushing myself back up. I waited a little while and then poked my head back under; sure enough, she was out.

I pulled her back up and felt her pulse but I couldn't find any and I rolled my eyes in annoyance before pressing the button on my communicator. "Left her too long, she's gone."

"Kit, you weren't supposed to kill her, just knock her out." Rogue sighed.

"I know, I just need a bit more practice…you think Lexa will consent to a bit more practice?"

"Check it out later, just hurry up and get her outfit on." I followed orders and put the laundry maid's outfit on before phasing her back into the ground, ' not a very good burial…but it's better than nothing,' I smirked to myself. I phased my outfit down with her too, but not before pulling out a small picture of myself from it and I slotted it into the girl's nametag, adjusting it slightly and then I walked off.

As I stepped out of the launderette I looked both ways and noticed someone heading in my direction, I was just about to head off the other way but they called out to me.

"Excuse me! You there!"

"Yes…mahm?"

"I need these to be taken to the mistress' room immediately," the lady held out some extravagant looking sheets; "she needs her bed covers changed."

"Certainly."

"Good, you must do it promptly, she will be home sooner than expected; five minutes or so."

My heart rate increased at those words and my eyes widened slightly, 'oh god! She must suspect something…I have to warn Rogue!' "Certainly mahm."

I turned to walk away but the head-maid spoke to me indignantly, "where is your curtsey!"

"Oh, pardon me mahm," I curtseyed with my head bowed, and glared at the floor.

"You would do well to remember it with such a Mistress, I will have to put this on your record, now hurry along."

I did as told and walked quickly in the direction she gestured but I stopped short as soon as I reached a corner, and, looking about to see no one was in sight, I lifted up my skirt and pulled out the communicator. "Rogue."

I waited a while before Rogue's voice crackled through; "what is it Kit?"

"I have been informed that White Queen is coming home in about five minutes."

"WHAT!"

"She'll be here in about five minutes…she must suspect something."

"Damn it! Hold on a second…" I waited for a while and finally Rogue's voice came back on the communicator, "Wanda says that's enough time…you'll just have to be quick."

"Ok, I'm going to her room now; I've been told to change her bed covers, which way is it?"

"Carry on down this corridor."

VvVvVvV

Lexa:

I peered about the hallway and smirked when I spotted no one about, then I sniffed the air to check no one was in the room before I extended my claw and used it to open the lock on the door. The door clicked and I turned the handle, opening it very slowly and shutting and locking it behind myself. I turned around to face the room and my eyes widened.

It had a rich, royal red carpet with fluffy white rugs dotted here and there, clean as you could imagine. The bed was a very large canopy bed, bigger than a king-size with a soft, royal red bed sheet and huge feather pillows. There was a huge vanity table with every kind of make-up placed on it, and huge mirrors situated on it. There was a massive full-length mirror opposite the bed and either side of it was a door, no doubt leading to an en-suite and walk-in-wardrobe.

But none of this really interested me, all that caught my eye were five items; the full-length mirror, a large painting above the vanity table, another two paintings either side of double doors, no doubt leading onto a balcony. The last was a rather large, very colourful and extravagant tapestry situated above the bed-head. I looked at all five items in turn and went over to each stood for a while by them and moved to the next. Behind one of these was a top security vault, holding the relic we sought after and behind each of the other four was a security alarm system. If any person either removed the items in front of the alarm or managed to get through them then the alarm would go off and a gas would filter throughout the room, immediately killing any that breathed it in. My job was to search for and sniff out the relic, pin-pointing exactly which item it was hidden behind and then stand back and watch as Kitty removed it. Talking of Kitty…

Kitty:

I reached the hallway Rogue had instructed me to and headed straight down it, to the white curtains at the end that hid the entrance to Emma's bedroom. I pulled both back and looked behind myself before I phased straight through it into the room behind. My eyes widened in shock at the seductiveness of the room, and the pure, clean whiteness of it all.

That was before I turned to look at Lexa, who stood leaning casually against the door, watching me, "you know, it is a bit strange when you just suddenly appear out of nowhere and phase straight through me."

I decided to ignore her comment and carried on looking about the room; "you sniff me out then?"

"No…I just decided to block anyone's entrance to the room." She rolled her eyes at me and moved away from the door to stand next to me. "Those are our objects for today," Lexa pointed at a full-length mirror, three paintings and a tapestry before turning to face me. "And I have no idea as to which is the one we want…even though Wanda tells me you say Queeney is coming back in about…" Lexa looked at the clock on the wall, "two minutes."

"Well then, we better get to work…or at least, you should." I leant against the door this time and Lexa scowled at me before moving to each item in turn and examining it before moving onto the next.

Suddenly I heard a crackling noise and turned to Lexa who held up her communicator, "hey, Lex?"

"Ya, it's me."

"We got a problem…"

"Shit! She can't be here already!"

"You got it…I'll give you about a minute longer in that room and a minute and a half of safety in the house."

I frowned, "what?"

Wanda must of heard me as she spoke again, "it means that you have one minute left in her room, coz she'll examine it first and we're estimating she'll take about thirty seconds searching it thoroughly. Then she'll turn her attention to the rest of the house and we're betting that she'll scan it so you'll have no time in there, so hurry the shit up!" Wanda's voice disappeared and Lexa and me looked at each other before Wanda's voice came back on; "45 seconds!"

Lexa hurried over to the tapestry over the bed and ran her hand up and down it, muttering to herself; "she knows anyone searching for the relic will think that's the most obvious place. But they'll think it won't be in there because she would of thought that so they'll search somewhere else. So that must mean it's in there!"

I frowned, "what? No."

"Yes. She thinks that people searching for the relic will think it's in there because it's so obvious…but they'll think it won't be in there because she would of thought that so they'll search somewhere else. But then they'll think that she thought that and so they'll go search it, but then they'll think again and think that that was the exact thing she wanted them to think so they'll search somewhere else, so that must mean it's in there." (If that made any sense to anyone but me…because that hardly made any sense to me!)

I looked at Lexa as if she was mad, but she just shrugged and gestured towards the tapestry. "What else is there to do?" I rolled my eyes at her but hurried over to it, phasing through the bed and over to the tapestry.

Wanda's voice crackled over the communicator again and Lex and me froze, "she's here! And she's getting out of her car! Grab the relic and get out of there! She'll be up in about ten seconds!"

Lexa looked at me and I bit my lip, then quickly closed my eyes and phased my hand through the tapestry…

Nothing happened, and I grabbed the box that Psylocke said held the relic, before quickly phasing it out again. I ran over to Lexa with the box in hand, grabbed her wrist and phased us through the floor just as we heard voices outside the door.

Lexa:

We landed in the kitchen and Kitty phased our feet through the floor to take the impact before we looked at our surroundings. A man stood with his mouth wide open, gazing at us both but before he could utter a word Kitty leapt at him and phased him through the floor. I widened my eyes in surprise, but before I could utter a word Kitty grabbed my hand and pulled me through the kitchen door into the hall and ran up it pulling me along with her. She quickly phased us through one of the doors and we ran into the room, she let go of me and without explanation dove her hand into the ground; pulling out her outfit. My mouth formed an 'o' shape in realisation but once again, before I could say anything she grabbed my wrist and covered her mouth and nose with her hand. I just managed to take a deep breath and cover my own mouth and nose before she phased us into the ground.

Kitty pulled me along for a while and then she stopped, poking her head above ground and then it reappeared again, "just a little way." We ran along again and then Kitty poked her head through the ground and pulled us both up. I looked around and saw we were in the same clump of trees as before, and after a couple of moments Rogue flew out of the tree and hovered next to us.

"Ya got it?"

"Yup." Kitty held out the box and Rogue smiled but I turned to peer through the bushes.

"Where's Wanda?"

"She went ta get yahre outfit, she's just coming." Rogue turned to look to my side and I turned, spotting Wanda heading our way.

"Got it, let's go." And with that, Rogue grabbed hold of us all before porting us away.

End of Chapter

WOW! MY LONGEST CHAPTER YET! And my first ever mission chapter…I hope it was good enough! I hope all you Kitty fans noticed the obvious differences about her; murderous little bitch now ain't she! ;P hope you enjoyed and will stay to a) leave a review and b) wait to read more! Love Thrills, xxx


	10. Success

Well hey there…not felling to good, had a VERY rough day at school…look, I'm a girl, girls bitch and I got bitched at…life really. But anyway, this is not a time for bitching…because; MY FIRST DOUBLE DIGIT CHAPTER! CHAPTER 10! OH YEH! Enjoy.

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

_"Telepathic thoughts are in italic and speech marks"_

Chapter **10**

VvV Success VvV

Rogue:

Kitty held the box clutched tightly in her hands, smirking at the privilege and looking at us other three in turn, as if daring us to complain even though we never gave her the satisfaction of our obvious jealous. I smirked myself, feeling it emanating off the both of them but my smirk died as I remembered that Lexa could sense my jealousy to, 'damn her senses!' I scowled slightly but quickly covered it up and turned my expression blank as I felt Kitty's eyes on me, I knew her pride had swelled however at the slight glance. Rolling my eyes I lay back in my seat and created a ball of magma, turning it into a Phoenix to entertain me. However I quickly distinguished the phoenix as I heard footsteps outside the room we were seated in and I sat up straight in my chair, as did the others. We shared a glance, one full with worry and fear, but as the door opened our eyes focussed on the desk in front of us and our expressions were as blank as paper.

"Well, well. What have we here?" the familiar click of expensive boots sounded across the floor, yet we never turned nor stirred, not even when a figure situated itself in front of us. Lady Deathstrike stood in front of us all, examining us whilst leaning on the desk, "I hope you have a little something for me." She sat in her chair and crossed her arms, examining us still.

Kitty rose, her expressions completely blank, "your requests mistress."

"You may speak."

"It was difficult, yet we prevailed…" Kitty paused, and a faint twinkle shone in her eyes, "yours mistress." Kitty held out the box and Lady Deathstrike looked at it with surprise and excitement. She took the box from Kitty and looked as if she was about to open it, but instead she turned to face us. "Leave."

We did exactly as we were told and left silently, yet as the guard closed the door behind us we immediately started chattering.

"Ah wanna no what kahnd of relic is that important ta her…"

"Yeh, don't we all." Lexa scowled and popped her claws out, racing a finger up and down them.

"Lex put them away. Anyways, we should so, like, go and celebrate and par-tay!" (You know how some people…like me…like to say party like; par-tay.)

"You know Kit, that's not such a bad idea…" Wanda smiled at Kitty's idea and then looked back at Lexa, "Lex put them away."

Lexa scowled and with a SNIKT her claws retracted, but we could all see a faint glow in her eyes at the word party…being one thing we all loved.

VvVvVvV

Lexa walked up to the bouncer in front of us and he stared down at her, looking very bored. "You ain't comin' in here; way too young."

Smirking, Lexa turned her back to the queue and took out a small card out, "do you want to think again about that?"

"Enjoy your time," the bouncer unhooked the barrier and let us all enter before turning to the kids behind us, "too young."

"You know…these babies really come in handy." Lexa smirked as she put her card away and stepped into the club, with the rest of us following.

"Ya got that rahght." I smirked as I followed after her and stepped into the nightclub.

Kitty took out her own card and examined it, it was small and black with white writing printed on it; _Lady Deathstrike's assassins._ "I wonder what I could, like, get with this…" she looked around the nightclub and spotted the bar. "Well, like, forget that; I _do_ know." Heading over to it, Kitty smirked, "like, see ya later guys."

Wanda watched her with her head tilted to the side, thinking quickly before following, "yeh, see ya guys."

I watched them take a seat and both hold out their cards, before I felt someone tapping me on the shoulder and I turned around, coming face to face with a man that looked about ten years older than me.

"You dancin'?" he beckoned to the dance floor and with a shrug I followed, watching as Lexa headed in another direction with another guy. The man stood behind me as I got used to the rhythm and began to move, pressing myself up against him and grinding against him seductively. After a short while, as I knew would happen, three other guys began to dance closer to me and another guy pulled me over to dance with him. I gradually moved across the dance floor in this way, either being pulled to grind against some other guy or making my way to someone that caught my eye. Soon enough I had made my way across the dance floor and Lexa was in my sight, she caught my eye and winked as she twisted in the middle of a small group of guys. One came over to her and lifted her leg round his waist, grinding himself against her tight blue trousers. Lexa ground against him and she smirked at his obvious reaction before moving back into the middle of the group, seducing another man to grind up behind her.

After a while of dancing Wanda came into view, walking through the floor, stopping occasionally to grind against a guy or two before moving on. She then reached Lexa and me; both of us now in a circle of aroused men and she joined us, grinding against a guy who immediately pounced on her. She looked back the way she came and I followed her gaze to Kitty, who was rolling against a guy, bending over and pressing her bottom into him before rolling her back onto his slightly revealed chest. I smirked and she must of felt my eyes on her, because she turned to face me and winked, giving me a little wave before she left the guy and made her way seductively over to our group. Two guys immediately sprung to her side and she turned to face them, running her hand up their bodies before pressing her back up against one and pulling the other up against her front.

After a short while of dancing like this I started to get hot and I beckoned to the bar, the others got the point and with a few teasing waves we all made our way to the bar.

"It's getting hot in here! So take off all your clothes!" Kitty rolled her hips and sang to the song as we walked, laughing as Wanda joined in with her.

"I am getting' so hot, I wanna take ma clothes off!" Wanda's singing caught a few curious glances as she sung in an exaggerated female voice.

Lexa giggled and sung the next line with Kitty, before I joined in with Wanda laughing as I did. "Phew, we are bad girl-_ies_!" Lexa emphasised the ies and caught a few smirk off a passing group of guys. We walked on for a bit, still singing but only after a few steps Lexa stopped singing and stopped walking, turning on her heels to look at the guys who watched her. She gave us a quick glance, turned back to the guys and shrugged her shoulders, "oh fuck it!" she stalked her way seductively over to the guys and grabbed one's shirt, pulling him close to her chest and running a hand up his own.

We had all stopped and turned around when she had and Wanda watched her closely, examining the guys before heading over herself, "I'm sure she could use a bit of help with those guys!"

Kitty giggled but turned back, facing the bar and began to walk over to it; "those drinks won't, like, get themselves you know…and who knows who we might meet!" she smirked and stuck her tongue out at me before taking out her card. "I mean, like, come on; with these beauties we can buy _all_ and _everything_ we like!"

Laughing, I grabbed her arm linked it in my own and we half ran, half walked to the bar seating ourselves beside what Kitty described to me as 'perfectly pinchable asses.' (Blimey they're dirty little ladies when they're out at a party! By the way, she wasn't calling the guys asses, she was talking about their asses ;P)

We waited for a moment until a hunk behind the bar came over to us and Kitty ordered two martinis, the bartender took his time getting them flirting with us regularly as he did until finally he had finished and was asking, how us 'ladies' would be paying. Yet he didn't have to ask twice, as soon as the words escaped his mouth our cards were outstretched in our hands. "Ah don't think any money will be exchanging tahday, sugah, but ah do think a couple of comments about tha speed of this service will, doncha think Kit?"

"Well, being the, like, slowest service I've had in quite a long time…I, like, so agree. Laters." We picked up our glasses, winked at the guy who stood staring at us with his mouth hanging open and we walked off. "Would you, like, just hold this for one second?" Kitty handed me her glass and ran back to the counter, she leant on it casually and ran a finger along the guys chin before snapping his jaw shut." Don't drool hun, it really doesn't attract the 'ladies.'" She ran back to me, grabbed her glass and we linked arms, laughing as we joined the moving bodies on the floor.

Kitty:

We swayed to the beat as we drank more and more, dancing with even more guys and getting highly drunk. I twirled around on the spot by myself but I stumbled and I would have fallen if a pair of strong, muscular arms hadn't rapped around my waist and pulled me back up.

"You might want to watch yourself, don't want to go and get yourself hurt now."

I giggled and shook my head, leaning back into the guys warm chest and we stayed like that for a while, swaying against each other before he spoke again.

"So, what's your name then?"

I paused for a while; I wanted to tell him my name…I really did; yet something in the back of my mind was telling me against it, telling me it just wasn't the right thing to do. "Uh…it's Ki…it's Kat."

"That's a sweet name, for such a gorgeous girl," the guy twirled me in his arms so I was facing him and smiled softly down at me. There was something different about this guy, something that made me want to dance with him until the sun rose and still carry on dancing until the night came and then the sun rose again. His body was warm, making me snuggle deeper into his chest and I fitted just perfectly as if he was made for me. I couldn't stop smiling as I danced with him, he made me feel alive and so special; the only girl in the world important enough to dance with him. But I wasn't the only one smiling; I could feel him smiling as he buried his head into my hair. He moved his head to the side so he wouldn't speak into my hair, "mines La…Larry."

"That's a cute name for such a cute guy," I yawned softly into his chest, the way we swayed made me feel so sleepy and at peace with the world. My tongue curled like a cat as I yawned and he watched it, smiling as if some faint recognition had just sprung to mind. But then the moment stopped; a girl came up to us and grabbed…Larry? That sounds so wrong, as if the name doesn't fit him somehow…_his_ arm, tugging him away from me. The moment we were apart it was like I had drunk a gallon of coffee; my mind was on full alert, my body was as awake as it had been before he had caught me. The girl clung to his arm practically begging him to dance with her and batted her eyelashes up at him; he smirked down at her before turning to me. His whole expression exchanged and his smile was so soft and caring, it made my heart skip a beat, but not only that but I recognised that smile…

VvV Flashback VvV

I smiled and jumped in pride for myself; "did you see me! Did you!"

"Yeh, wow Kitty! How'd it feel?"

"Oh it was, like, totally unbelievable!"

"You're making the power yours Kitty. Once you own it, nothing can own you." He smiled down at me softly as I hugged him, resting my head onto Lance's chest…

VvV End of Flashback VvV

I smiled softly at the memory and turned to look back up at…Larry… my smile reflecting his own. He turned back to smirk at the girl clinging to his arm as she tugged on it and than looked back up at me, "well then, I guess I'll see ya…" he frowned slightly as he paused, "…Kat…"

"I hope so…" I paused myself and frowned, "…Larry…"

(OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!)

Rogue:

A few hot, dancing and drinking hours later, Kitty, Wanda, Lexa and me were waving goodbye to our dance partners, rather drunkenly and were heading out of the door. As we walked out of the nightclub the bouncer gave us a small bow and we all started to giggle drunkenly, walking out in a wobbly line, all of us swaying slightly to the side.

"Well that is what ah call a par-tay!"

"Yeh, you got that right girl!" Lexa lifted her arms above her head as she spoke and twisted in a circle.

Kitty giggled and they grabbed hands, spinning in a circle for a bit before dizzily running to catch back up with us, "wow, you, like, soooo got that right Roguey." She giggled again and did a small skip jump, clapping her hands and spinning in a small circle before catching us up again.

"Mad as a hatter!" Wanda laughed and linked arms with Lexa and me before Kitty grabbed Lexa's arm and we began our way to a taxi, swaying from side to side as we did.

"Well hah there sugah," my voice was slurred and the others giggled quietly behind me as I spoke, "where are ya going on a nahght lahke this?" I giggled and the taxi driver smirked.

"Well, seeming as I'm the one taking you lot home; you'll have to tell me that." We all piled in the car as he spoke, falling on top of each other and giggling loudly whilst hushing each other before the driver began to start the car. "So then, ladies, where we going?"

"Uh…ah can't remembah…"

The driver stopped the car and turned around to peer in the back at us. "What?"

"Ah…ah can't remembah…" I giggled nervously as he rolled his eyes.

"Then we have a problem don't we girls."

"I, like, soooooo can remember!" Kitty paused to giggle, "right…it's, uh…it's…ooh! I know! It's Iniquitous Mansion, you know…the, uh, big…posh, uh, large, massive, fancy mansion thingy-ma-bob…you know?" (Iniquitous – wicked; it is believed to be a sin e.g. he said it was sinful to wear/do, etc.)

We all stopped giggling as the taxi driver paused and his mouth hung, his eyes were wide open and he stared at us with fright and terrified respect. "Oops…I think you said something Kit…" Lexa whispered quietly but the moment she spoke the taxi driver sprung into action.

"Right then my dears, lets get you darlings home, safe and sound as quick as you can say 'taxi!'"

Us girls all giggled before simultaneously shouting, "TAXI!"

We giggled for quite a while; occasionally laughing about this and that before Wanda and Lexa started simultaneous hiccuping causing more shrieks of laughter.

Wanda managed to stop hiccuping long enough to speak, "oh my, hic, god! Give us, hic, the, hic, hiccups why don't, hic, you!" Wanda started giggling the moment she had finished speaking occasionally punctuated by the hiccups with Lexa's accompaniment.

Five minutes later and I had spotted the road to our house, with a shriek I let the others know; "HOME SWEET HOME!"

"Like, already?"

"Y-hic-up."

"Ya wanna, hic, say that again in, hic, English Lex?"

"I, hic, ain't never heard of no, hic, of no hic-English, hic, before!" Lex giggled again but her laughter was doubled as I suddenly jumped off my seat with a tremendous hiccup.

"Uh, hic, oh!"

"Phew! At least I haven't, like, got it…" there was a slight pause from Kitty, "…hic! DAMN, hic, IT!"

Lexa and Wanda began to shriek with laughter whilst pointing at Kitty, and I was laughing, bent over double trying to control myself.

VvVvVvV

"Well then ladies, after that eventful ride I am afraid I'll have to leave you here." The taxi driver turned to face us and we all controlled our laughing slightly to moan in fake disappointment.

"Ohhhhhhh! What a shame!"

"Ya, shame ain't it."

"Yeh, like, totally!"

"Y-hic-up."

"Lovely giving you all a ride ladies, have a good night and I hope you don't get too bad hangovers."

We all giggled and Lexa climbed out of the car but tripped and fell over onto the drive being immediately crushed as Wanda climbed out and fell onto her. Kitty and me sat in the car both clutching each other as we laughed our heads off, before I managed to take out my purse and give the driver a twenty as a tip. "Thanks, hic, sugah."

Kitty and I climbed out the other side of the taxi and made our way to Lexa and Wanda, dragging them up before all four of us turned to wave drunkenly at the taxi…that was until Lexa stumbled into Wanda, who stumbled into me and I stumbled into Kitty. We fell, giggling and hiccuping, into a heap and lay for about five minutes on top of each other before we finally managed to stand up again, making our slow and unsteady way back to the front door. But as we reached it I suddenly froze, and Lexa did at the same time, lifting her nose and sniffing the air about her before she turned to us all with a panic stricken gasp.

I interrupted her before Lexa could even open her mouth; "they're back!"

Wanda and Kitty both stared at me before Wanda mouthed a silent 'uh oh' and we all looked around before Kitty began to run towards the garden. "Like, sorry guys, but I'm, like, getting out of here!" we all stared after her retreating silhouette before Wanda giggled and turned to face me.

"Blimey, she went fast…why?"

Lexa giggled as well and shrugged, "beats me."

"Look, let's just get up to our rooms, shall we?" I held out my hands to Lexa and Wanda but they just looked at me as if I was mad, and without a word a branch from the oak began to glow as Wanda used her powers to control it. The branch reached down and rapped itself around her waist before it dropped Wanda gently onto her balcony and she unlocked the doors using her powers, waving drunkenly down at Lexa and me before disappearing behind the curtains. "Well that was rude."

Lexa shrugged again and looked at the oak, "yeh well…I'll be fine," she began to walk towards the tree as she spoke and then, as I watched Lexa's claws appeared and she began to climb the tree, taking her time, and stopping every now and then for a breather. I watched as she made quick work of the tree and then I turned on my heel and ran to the garden in the direction Kitty had gone, hearing a soft thud as Lexa landed on her balcony.

Kitty:

I ran towards the garden, too busy running to watch closely as a fish jumped in the pond, running too fast to have time to stop as an owl hooted nearby. I never stopped running until I reached the back door, leaning up against it and pressing my ear against the cold glass to listen for any voices on the other side, but as I heard none I quickly made my way into the house, phasing quickly and quietly. I looked around at the house but I bolted as I heard voices nearby, sounding from the library and as if they were coming closer every second. Wasting no time, I quickly ran into the living room and stood onto the sofa, sighing as I phased my head into my room and saw nothing, before I placed my hands onto the floor and pushed myself up into the room. I muttered a hushed 'phew' and then, feeling queasy, I made my way over to the balcony and looked out over the still garden watching as a shadow appeared.

Rogue looked around at the garden before she turned her head and, with a scowl, her eyes rested on me as she headed over in my direction. I bit my lip anxiously as she stopped underneath my balcony and glared up at me, I distinctly heard her mutter 'bitch' before she moved to her own balcony and I watched her levitate up to it, landing with grace and elegance in her drunken state. We looked at each other for a while before Rogue smirked and stumbled into her room, "nahght Kit-Kat, sleepy-sleep."

I giggled loudly but stopped as Rogue turned to face me and shushed me with a quiet giggle of her own, copying her actions with the same shushing noise, I giggled again before stumbling into my room and onto my bed. Falling asleep the minute I stumbled through the hangings and dropped my head onto the pillow.

End of Chapter

Hehehe, party girls huh! Hope you enjoyed their part spirit, and make sure to give guesses to Kitty's mysterious stranger; uh…Larry?…and I hoped you liked Kitty's substitute of, uh…Kat?…don't forget to leave a review with YOUR guess. And I'm sorry about the late update; Christmas, New Year and a special Christmas story as well; _The Season Brings you Love._ Hope all that read the story enjoyed, and I hope you all enjoyed this chappie enough to review and take a guess! Love Thrills, xxx


	11. Strange Connections

Ok…this is a different chapter; very different from my others…can't tell you why because that would ruin my opening, hehe :D

Oh, but it is also different because in this chappie quite a bit of it is told in the third person; it makes it easier.

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

_"Telepathic thoughts are in italic and speech marks"_

Chapter 11

VvV Strange Connections VvV

His eyes burned with desire as she scowled at him, furious and enraged by his constant, continuous taunting and as she scowled he moved closer, but she only retreated until she finally backed into a wall; helpless of his continuous advancements. He placed his hands either side of her head and bent down towards her, his lips partially opened as he closed in on his only goal in life, and she finally consented. They crashed together, their bodies becoming one in the intense struggle that was their passion, fusing together with such lust, and they explored each others bodies; their hands roaming where they both never thought they'd be allowed to go. But as the kiss intensified, as she rapped her leg around his waist…the alarm went off and Remy shot up in bed, losing the dream…losing his Rogue…

Remy sighed and whacked the alarm, sinking miserably back into his bed as it faltered but he never got to delve back into the realms of his dreams…or what were sometimes taunting nightmares…because as he sunk back someone jumped onto his chest. Remy groaned and clapped his hands to his forehead in exasperation at the childish behaviour, "John, mon ami, do y' have t' jump on Remy so early in de mornin'?" John started to laugh insanely but was cut short as Remy shoved him off the bed and he landed hard on the floor, "et don't start complaining; y' deserved dat un!"

"Awwwwwwwwwwwww! Come on mate, don't want you going back where you shouldn't be going!" John winked at Remy and then began to laugh.

"Désolé (sorry) mon ami, mais Remy never liked to delve int' your boxers in his dreams…et he still don'."

"I wasn't talking bout that mate, I was talking bout the Sheila…you been getting any action from her over these two years?" John began to laugh again but was cut short as Remy threw a pillow at him, but John stopped complaining about it and used the pillow to shield his eyes as Remy got out of bed and headed towards their ensuite bathroom (don't see why…!)

"Y' can look mon ami, Remy be in de ensuite."

John uncovered his eyes but swore colourfully as he spotted the fact that Remy was teasing him, "shit Rem! You could at least sleep with a pair of boxers on like any normal human being mate!"

"Mais Remy ain't a normal human; Remy be a Cajun, et a bon un at dat," Remy laughed and ran the shower, his mind turning back to Rogue as he let the warm water flow softly down his body.

Meanwhile John, still cursing, wandered into the walk-in-wardrobe and began to get dressed deciding on a pair of baggy black jeans with fire balls running up the sides, and a bright orange shirt that clashed colourfully with his soon gelled up hair, gelled into a mountain of soft, floppy spikes. As he pulled a black jacket over the shirt, Remy strutted out of the bathroom; his lower half (shamefully) covered by a towel until he pulled it off and put on his favourite boxers; black silk, decorated by pictures of green emeralds. Over these he pulled on a pair of tight fitting jeans that somehow managed to catch every girls' attention to the obvious bulge in them, and over his bare, muscly chest he pulled a crimson shirt, which was tighter over some areas just revealing how defined his muscles really were. He ran a hand casually through his hair, combing it after discovering all the knots and then the boys of the Acolytes strolled casually out of their rooms and into the corridors of…the X-mansion…did I mention that they were the former Acolytes!

Remy looked around the corridor, cursing as he spotted Pietro and his newest girl heading towards them and, quick as lightning, he dodged back into his and John's room and before long was smirking at the girl as he donned a pair of designer sunglasses. "Bonjour Patsy, nice t' see y' again."

Patsy giggled at Remy and waved at him and John before turning back to Pietro who covered up his glare with his trademark smirk, stopping Patsy in front of the other two players and making out with her on the spot. Remy rolled his eyes in annoyance but leant against the wall, hoping for a chance to have a chat with her after Pietro was done, and Remy took this time to check Patsy out.

She was tall for her age, reaching just and inch below Pietro, with her pale skin and her vibrant, blood red hair, that she claimed to be natural, she looked like something from out of this world…even though she denied any comments that she could possibly be superhuman. Remy's eyes travelled down her body slowly, 'that may have been so, but the Prof. said he couldn't access her mind; she had some sort of mental blockage although she wouldn't talk about it to anyone.' Remy looked her up and down repeatedly, Patsy did definitely look like one of them, with her individuality, but as no one could get anything out of her there really was no point in trying.

Patsy must have noticed the eyes on her somehow as she looked up and turned to Remy with a smirk, "yes doll, can I help you?"

"Actually Chere, y' probably can…" Remy checked Patsy out again before he turned to Pietro, "désolé mon ami, mais…can Remy borrow your Chere fo' a while." As Pietro glared at Remy he smirked, "jus' fo' a chat?"

Patsy turned to Pietro and batted her eyes at him, "please Pie-Pie, it might take a while but it'll be worth it in the end," Pietro nodded and Patsy kissed him on the cheek before Remy led her into his room. "So…what do you want to, uh, 'talk' about then Remy?"

Remy smirked at Patsy and, after checking John and Pietro had moved away, he advanced on her after noting the excited way in which she said 'talk.'

"Remy weren't really t'inking bout talking Chere…Remy always say less talk more action." As Remy advanced on Patsy she sat down on his bed, leaning back onto her arms and smirking seductively up at him.

Remy made quick work of Patsy, no thought, no real desire; just pure simple sex…a distraction, the only problem was when he finally burst…after the last one-night-stand he had, Remy didn't want to muck it up again by yelling Rogue's name at the most important part. No foreplay was needed; it took too long, and with Pietro, time was not part of the process, so it was quick; in and out before anyone was the wiser. That was the greatest thing about the sluts Pietro picked up; they were so used to doing the whole sex business, 'you had to be when you're with Pietro'; it was quick and indulging. He pushed himself roughly into her, smirking in delight at how she gasped and squirmed beneath him before he began to start a pace, quickening it as she joined in. It was the same as it had been the last time Remy 'borrowed' Patsy, no nonsense, yet even this time Remy felt like Patsy's mind was on other things apart from the pumping and the moans he was getting out of her. Remy frowned in annoyance at this and decided to do something about it; he picked Patsy up, smirking and pumping faster as she shot him a curious glance before Remy carried her to the door. He pressed her back roughly against it, shoving her into the wood as he pounded into her roughly, and lifted her legs up higher, watching as her plump breasts jiggled with the motion. As Patsy licked her lips Remy began to tease her, running a finger along his length and to their joining as he bent forward and took a nipple in his mouth, sucking on it roughly as he pumped her faster. He moved to the other, admiring his work as they grew into tiny knots and he smirked at Patsy's delighted yet pained expression as he delved further into her with each stroke. Remy moved her away from the door and leant her back onto his bed, pushing her bottom up so it stuck into the air, giving him further, more pleasurable access and he pushed himself roughly into her, indulging in her stifled squeals of ecstasy. But as his pace began to quicken in harshness and speed, Remy's mind began to dissolve and as he stared down at the girl he would soon fill, all reality disappeared.

Remy pushed into Rogue, watching her every expression as they fluttered like lightning through her emerald eyes, and as he pumped her wildly Remy brushed a strand of Rogue's white bang out of her face. She bit her lip as she contracted mercilessly around Remy and he closed his eyes in almost fulfilled lust as he pumped her wilder than ever, before finally as she clenched tighter and spilled over him, Remy reached his climax, grunting her name as quietly as he could.

And that's when Rogue heard her name being called and shot up in bed thousands of miles away.

Rogue gasped as her heart raced with a ferocity, and she looked around her room but there was nothing, he hadn't been there…he hadn't called to her…but she felt he had, somehow. Rogue turned to look at her bed, staring around it and tracing every ruffle of the curtain with her eyes; gazing intensely into the shadows of each dip and curve. She sat slowly up, watching the cm space between the curtains, and she reached out, her hand shaking at the slow speed, but suddenly as her hand gripped the curtain she wrenched it back with speed. No one was there…the room was empty and her doors were closed with the curtains stationary in front of them, but as Rogue began to climb out of bed her mind suddenly rushed with images and she fell back down with a panicked cry; clutching her head fiercely.

A rush of emotions enshrouded her mind; annoyance, confusion, anger, happiness, acceptance, yet the emotion that Rogue found wouldn't disappear no matter what ran through the person's mind was one that made her eyes fill with tears; such a deep depression. And then the images appeared, accompanied by such powerful emotions and Rogue cried out again in pain as she rocked back and forth, clutching her head fiercely.

VvV Flashback VvV

He sat next to the phone, his hands clutching painfully hard at his hair, pulling it fiercely until the phone suddenly rang and he let go, his hands by his side as he watched the phone. He sat silently, watching it ringing and just as his hand reached out to it he was jumped on. He yelled in shock and pain as the person clutched at his hand and pushed it away, but he wasn't going to be beaten like that, and he pushed the person away, watching mercilessly as they rolled away. But they soon came back as he knew they would, jumping on him again and yelling with such anger, their voice choking as they held back their tears.

"NO IT'S MINE! IT HAS TO BE HER! GIVE ME THE PHONE!" John cried out in pain as Remy pushed him off and then he began to cry freely, his sobs racking as Remy picked up the phone and held it anxiously to his ear.

"Bonjour, c'est Remy."

"I am sorry Remy, I cannot find either of them, all three of them have disappeared…and it seems that Logan was correct about his daughter; she is gone to without a trace. They aren't locatable, I am so sorry, they're gone."

Remy dropped the phone from his hand as if it was fire and stared down at the receiver, watching it as it swung back and forth before he backed up against the wall. Remy shook his head disbelievingly and he covered his face with his hands as he cried out in emotional pain, sliding down the wall to hunch at the bottom of it. His face buried in his lap as he cried, turning to punch the wall with a yell of anger and he beat down on the wall, his whimpers and sobs racking the air with John's. But he turned around, his eyes red from the crying as Piotr placed a hand gently on his shoulder and Remy rubbed his eyes roughly, shaking his head still in disbelief. But then he began to stand up, pushing Piotr's hand away from him and stumbling down the hall, grabbing a coat and heading out of the Acolyte's base.

VvV Another Flashback VvV

Remy swung the bottle drunkenly in his hand, staring intensely at the girl in front of him, not even bothering to lift his eyes from her breasts. She giggled at him, and lifted his chin so he looked at his face then smirked seductively, "why don't we go somewhere, gorgeous? I know a motel near here." Remy smirked at the girl and they stood, stumbling together out of the nightclub.

VvV Another Flashback VvV

Remy threw his head back as he pushed himself roughly into her, grunting at every pace he made until he finally began to reach his climax as she tightened around him and flashes of Rogue's face flew through his mind. As Remy remembered the first time they met; standing so close, his body pressed against hers as she stared up at him, he reached his climax and yelled Rogue's name to the room, ignoring how it was drowned by the girls' scream as she climaxed.

VvV Another Flashback VvV

Remy opened his eyes wearily at his room as he heard his name being called and he glared at the light, ignoring Piotr who stepped into Remy's room carrying a tray. "Remy, you moost (must) eat!"

Remy rolled over onto his side, turning away from the light, turning from Piotr, "leave Remy alone; he don't want not'in."

"Please?" Piotr looked desperately at Remy's back and sighed when he received no answer, "you and John can't live like this; I get you help."

Remy scowled at the wall and as his door closed he yelled in frustration and anger, punching the wall and ignoring as the food tray that Piotr left behind exploded.

VvV Another Flashback VvV

He scowled at the blaring lights, the smiling welcoming faces and he turned his back on them all, walking back through the X-mansion's front doors and ignoring as John followed suit. _"Please Mr. Lebeau, let me help, we are all suffering; Logan has lost his own daughter, Kurt has lost a dear sister, everyone has lost dear friends, you are not alone. Mr. Maximoff has lost a sister, Mr. Allerdyce has lost his heart and Mr. Alvers has lost his love."_ Remy ignored as Professor Xavier's voice echoed in his head and kept walking, but he turned as John stopped and called his name.

"Remy, mate, they're right…we need help; we…" John began to sob as tears ran down his face, "we won't get them back…I'll never see her again." John dropped to his knees and sobbed into his hands, looking up with red eyes as Remy knelt in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Remy'll only do dis if Johnny's with him, oui?" Remy ignored as his own tears fell and helped John up as he nodded fiercely.

VvV Another Flashback VvV

Remy sat facing Scott, ignoring the curious glances the girls gave him and sighing exasperatedly as Pietro started muttering under his breath. The X-kids sat on one side of the room whilst the 'enemy' sat on the other. Jean placed a hand on Scott's shoulder and he looked up at her, his scowl softening as she gave him a warning glance yet as he turned back to Remy, Scott's scowl resumed its original fierceness and Jean simply rolled her eyes. Professor Xavier, Logan and Ororo watched all the X-kids and the newest members carefully, watching to see how the X-kids would react at the fact their enemies were joining them. It didn't look like it was going very well and Ororo opened her mouth to suggest they gave them all some more time but closed it immediately as Kurt stepped forward from the X-kids side of the room.

He reached out a hand to Remy, who looked at it curiously, "you made mine schwester the happiest I have known her, zank you."

Remy smiled sorrowfully at Kurt before he stood up and shook Kurt's hand with a smile; "did Chere say dat?"

"Not in so many vords…but ever since you took her to New Orleans she had been so much happier." Kurt smiled tearfully, wiping the tears away as he turned to Lance, "and Kitty couldn't ever stop talking about you."

Lance bit his lips to stop the tears and shook Kurt's hand, "thank you."

"Ze rest of you are velcome to me," Kurt smiled at the other members of the Brotherhood and the Acolytes and then turned to his fellow X-men. "Vat do you say; zis vould of made Rogue and Kitty happy."

Everyone from the X-men looked at Kurt intensely before, one after the other they smiled and nodded.

VvV End of Flashback VvV

Rogue whimpered as her tears flowed, the memories of Remy evaporating and she rocked herself back and forth, his face the only thing she could think of as she fell into a troubled sleep.

VvVvVvV

Remy lounged back into the chair, trying to hide the smirk that gradually began to creep across his face as Logan scowled at him in a disgusted fashion. He yawned casually and chuckled slightly to himself as Logan growled menacingly, but as soon as Professor Xavier wheeled into the room Remy sat straight up and wiped the smirk from his face.

The Professor smiled slightly as he wheeled himself behind his desk, "ah, Mr. Lebeau, I see you don't have complete disrespect of me…although I could never say the same for your peers." Xavier looked in Pietro's direction as he walked in the door, glaring menacingly in Remy's direction. "Please Pietro, take a seat," Xavier gestured to a seat next to Remy and Pietro reluctantly took it after a quick glance in Logan's direction. "Now then, I understand a slight disagreement has sprung between you two due to a recent relationship that Remy has mingled in, am I correct." The only answer Xavier received was a glare in Remy's direction from Pietro and a smirk from Remy. "I take it I am then, and therefore in this case I cannot do very much, as this is personal and I should not really meddle in students relationships but I can only say to both of you that no further fights will come of this. Also I will have to say that no more companions of either of yours may be brought back to the mansion." Xavier ignored the muttered protests from this announcement and shook his head amusingly as both teens quietened when Logan let his claws loose. "This is not the first time this has happened I am to believe; Pietro you are not completely innocent in this case, unlike Remy who has his empathy shields, you have no blockage to my scans. I am aware that you have done exactly the same with one of Remy's companions in the past and you therefore have no right to treat Remy in the manner you have been."

Remy and Pietro's mouths dropped open at this statement and Pietro muttered a quick 'shit' at seeing Remy's glare and ran out of the door as his chair began to light with kinetic energy. "Merde! Remy'll kill y' fo' dat! Get back here y' petite merde (little shit) !" Remy ran out of the door after Pietro and swore violently in French at him as Pietro sped away. Remy stomped his feet furiously and swore again, ignoring as a pot plant exploded, and with a call from Xavier he went back into the study.

"I would prefer it if you did not kill any of my students Remy, and I would greatly appreciate it if you'd clean that plant up." Remy shrugged in defeat and turned to walk out the door but froze as Xavier spoke to his back before walking out, "do not try to replace her Remy, you will always love Rogue, no matter how hard you try to refuse the emotions."

VvVvVvV

John looked sideways with a chuckle and rolled on his bed to face him as Remy dropped backwards onto his own bed, "hey mate, you get in trouble for that Sheila?"

"Non mon ami, Remy just had a petite chat bout how he can't bring anymore filles (girls) home, et how one of Remy's filles cheated on him wid dat Speedster, petite merde (little shit), Remy'll kill him!" Remy shoved his fist into the mattress and growled.

Rolling over onto his back, John pulled up his covers and shook his head, "whatever mate, see ya in the morning."

Remy rolled his eyes and lay back with a sigh, closing his eyes to a troubled sleep…not the only one.

VvVvVvV

She slowly dragged her eyes open and looked at the sunlight that blared through her open balcony doors, and as Rogue realised how it managed to get through her bed hangings she shot up. Someone had pulled Rogue's hangings back and tied them up…and that someone was outside on her balcony giggling and laughing. Rogue scowled for a moment and then her lips curled into a mischievous grin as she crept out of her bed and to the doors. She hid behind the doors but just as she was planning her attack Lexa called out to her and with a roll of her eyes, Rogue went to join the three other mutants on their balcony.

The other girls never looked up as Rogue walked out into the sunlight, and Lexa stared over the balcony with her back facing Rogue as she spoke, "you honestly thought I wouldn't be able to sniff you out girl?"

Rogue moved to join Lexa and rolled her eyes at the blue-haired mutant as Lexa turned to face Rogue, leaning casually backwards on the balcony, "ah was just testing."

"Yeh course," both girls turned to look out over the garden and ignored as Kitty stood up from the sofa and joined them, leaning back as Lexa had been. Wanda shook her head in amusement as Kitty rolled her eyes at both girls, and made to lounge out on the rest of the sofa until Rogue called over her shoulder. "Wand, hun, if ya want ta put yahre feet up on a sofa go ahead," Wanda carried on putting her feet up, ignoring as Rogue spoke again, "but yahre gonna have ta go fahnd another sofa." Rogue turned as she noticed Wanda had ignored her and with a smirk she moved and sat on Wanda's legs, "ah warned ya."

"Blimey girl! Lose some wait would you!" Wanda yelled as Rogue sat on her and shoved the Goth off, starting a play fight as Rogue jumped back on.

But as both girls shrieked, giggled and shoved each other Kitty spoke up, choosing her words carefully, "you, like, know guys…we really need some, like, more clothes and soon." Rogue and Wanda froze mid-fight, Lexa stumbled upright from the balcony so she was standing properly and they all stared at Kitty in horror telling Kitty that she hadn't been subtle enough; they got the hint. "Look…we're gonna have to, like, go soon I mean I have, like, no clothes…" Kitty began to look desperate as her words were not met with encouragement. "Like, come on guys, just a quick trip and we don't have to, like, go in any places you don't wanna…I'm so not totally cool about this but, like, we _need_ to go!" Kitty looked around desperately but was only met with discouraging expressions, namely death glares, "come _on_!"

"Forget it Kit, I ain't going to the mall, so just leave it," Lexa turned away from Kitty and began to walk into Rogue's room followed by Wanda and Rogue.

"_Please_!" Kitty followed the other girls but they only sat down on Rogue's bed, completely ignorant to any of her persuasions, until an idea sprung to mind. "Ok then…I guess, like, we won't be using that card we got and spending, like, all of that money in some Gothic shop like Apocalypse." Kitty began to walk out of the bedroom, pretending not to notice as Rogue fell out of her bed due to Wanda's playful shove…Wanda herself freezing with her arms still outstretched as Lexa's mouth snapped shut and silenced her laughing. Kitty was just about to walk out of the door, but as she predicted Rogue got up suddenly and called her back in; Kitty had them right in her web and she was reeling them in with delicacy like silk. Kitty put on a completely innocent expression, and due to the fact she had practised and used it countless times over the years with her job, Rogue didn't even suspect it, "yeh Rogue?"

"Uh…" Rogue tried to look inconspicuous as she ran a hand casually through her hair and pretended not to be too interested, "did ya mention Apocalypse?"

Kitty shrugged, trying to hide her smile as she caught a twinkle run through each of the other Goth's eyes at the word Apocalypse, it being all four girls' favourite shop, including hers after being influenced by the other three's Gothic ways having lived with them so long. "Oh, well, I really, like, just wanted to see if they, like, had an Apocalypse at the mall, that's it really…I'll just have to, like, find some old bikini so I can, like, lounge by the pool all day ya know."

With the second twinkle in the girls' eyes by the mention of lounging by the pool, Kitty knew she had them trapped, it was just time to wrap them up in her delicate web of silky hints. "Well…you know, I think I'll just go by myself and everything, I mean, come on; it's only a trip to the mall to get me some clothes and everything, and, well, I suppose I could get you guys some clothes back. I saw this really cute pink top in a magazine that would look great on you Rogue." Kitty tried her hardest not to laugh at the look of horror on Rogue's face and watched, as the three girls stood up quickly and began to hurry to Kitty, shoving her out of the door insisting that they 'might as well come for Kitty's own safety, of course.' Kitty smirked secretively and there was one thought that raced through her head as she was accompanied to the front door, 'they should know I don't read magazines anymore…and besides, I only told them yesterday that I think pink is the most babyish colour imaginable.'

End of Chapter

Ok, the shopping trip will have to wait until next chappie coz this chappie is getting a bit longer and this was also supposed to be another mission…but it's getting too long so I've split it, but that just means the next chappie is up sooner! Read and Review, I need help on where my mission should take place, either;

Night Club

Ball

Or a dance on a cruise?

If you have any other suggestions of places where there will be lots of people and dancing (clue to the mission…kinda) then put your ideas into a review, cheers! Love Thrills, xxx


	12. PostMission Anticipation

Ok, I know I said mission this chapter but it's getting pretty long so…this is post-mission ok, and next chapter I promise will be the mission! Enjoy!

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

_"Telepathic thoughts are in italic and speech marks"_

Chapter 12

VvV Post-Mission Anticipation VvV

Rogue

I leaned back into my seat, closing my eyes as Wanda drove down the motorway in her Convertible, Chevrolet Corvette, sure she was speeding but it wasn't like we'd get pulled over; when Wanda let her baby speed nothing could catch her.

The wind rushed against my face and blew my hair in all directions, however my bangs were nowhere in sight having been told by Betsy and Lorna to try and avoid showing any outstanding features; meaning my bangs were out of the question by means of an image inducer. All my hair blew namely into Lexa's face and she growled, not noticing as I peeped out of the corner of my eyes and smirked at her. I tossing my head to the side so nearly all of it blew into her mouth as she opened it to protest, and she tried to blow it out, growling at me again as I raised my eyebrows amusedly at her.

"Grow up Rogue," she narrowed her eyes and I mimicked her.

"Grow up Lexa."

Lexa frowned at me and I frowned back, "stop it!"

"Stop it!"

"STOP IT!"

I laughed as Lexa raised her voice and copied her, laughing again as she stomped her feet on the car and I imitated her, only to have Wanda turn around in her seat and glare at us. She held onto the steering wheel with one hand, fiddling absentmindedly at her shoulder length, pure black hair; as, being one of her own outstanding features, she had been forced to wear an image inducer that covered her scarlet tips and she was not happy about it, in fact we were both equally disgusted by the rule, but it was a rule.

"You get mud on the car and I'll throw your cars in some mud so you can feel what it's like to clean it up," she turned back to the motorway paying no attention as Kitty casually phased us through the car that Wanda was heading for. All we heard as we drove off was a squeal of brakes and I turned to watch as the driver braked suddenly in shock and had another car drive straight into the back of him.

"Nice one Wanda," Lexa began to laugh as a car drove into the second one and turned back around to watch as Kitty phased us all through a slow driver in front.

VvVvVvV

Kitty

Wanda parked us at the mall and I phased out, looking around and staring up at the building in front of me in disgust, "oh look; isn't it, like, beautiful."

"Just as beautiful as Lexa's ass once she's crapped," Lexa scoffed at Wanda's statement and playfully pushed her, only to have the gesture returned with more force. The two girls began to get involved in a small play-fight and Rogue and me watched them in amusement before we turned towards the building and regretfully walked towards it.

"Gahs, lets go," Rogue turned back to Lexa who now had Wanda in a headlock and shook her head, both of us stopping to watch as Wanda threw Lexa off of herself, only to watch in disbelief as Lexa flipped onto her hands and propelled herself back to Wanda. Lexa's feet landed in the Scarlet Goth's stomach and she fell backwards, only to flip herself onto her hands and stand a couple of metres away from Lexa gesturing for her to 'come and get it.' Rogue rolled her eyes and both girls seemed to stop in mid-movement, yet all four of us knew Rogue had frozen them and she gazed casually at them with a smirk, "lets go, ya can finish this later."

Wanda shrugged as soon as she was released and both Goths ran to catch up with us, complementing each other on their fighting yet at the same time arguing who was going to win later.

"Yeh well, it may have been a good flip but you didn't propel yourself hard enough so I got up easily."

"You want a hard kick, you just wait."

"What until I show you what the word hard really means?"

"No, until _I _show _you_ what hard really means."

"Nuh uh."

"Ya huh."

"Nuh uh."

"Ya huh," both girls stopped in front of the revolving doors and faced each other.

"Nope."

"Yup."

"Like, shut up already," I rolled my eyes, grabbing one arm of each girl and dragging them both into the doors, and both of them finally shut up waiting in horror until finally the doors stopped revolving.

But just as we all moved to step out Rogue froze in the door and we rolled our eyes exasperatedly as she turned with the door and stepped outside. She stood the other side of the door and watched us all with her eyebrows raised, "ah'm not coming."

"Rogue, get in the door," Lexa sighed as Rogue didn't respond and made to go through the door but paused when I tapped her on the shoulder and curiously turned to where my finger was pointed, then quickly turned back, a smirk playing about her lips. Rogue watched all this with a curious interest and then as she followed Lexa's pointing finger her eyes widened and she stepped into the door.

She immediately grabbed hold of Wanda and dragged her through the entrance as quickly as possible, "hurry tha fuck up." Lexa and me followed with raised eyebrows and watched as Rogue only stopped once she had stepped into Apocalypse with a longing smile.

I followed suit and gazed up at the sign; a large bat, with the word Apocalypse scrolled across it in grey cursive writing, and I took in a deep breath before entering, looking around me at my home.

VvVvVvV

We stood at the entrance to Apocalypse, not moving, just watching as Prep after Prep walked past, Jock after Jock followed after and Geek after Geek watched them wistfully as they tried their hardest to look impressive and cool. Yet, nowhere in sight was a single Goth, all of them huddled safely in their haven, many watching from the entrance for that perfect moment to escape the hell, and, unsurprisingly, they weren't the only ones. Rogue, Wanda, Lexa and me stood with a group of three others, all of us watching with cold, empty gazes as they all walked past; to me it was so much like traffic. You'd have the Preps, Jocks and Geeks all rushing past and as soon as they had gone Goth after Goth hurried to the door; escaping to freedom but so far we had been waiting for five minutes and no chance had arose. Suddenly an opening In the rush appeared and the other three girls made a rush for freedom, but they timed it badly; no sooner had they made their way across the entrance a large group of Preps and Jocks stepped into right in their path.

"Oh look, it's the freak show coming from their freak store," the guy who spoke nodded in the direction of Apocalypse and the girls around him giggled, one of them hugging pathetically onto his arm.

"Lets see what you got here," the Jocks shoved two of the girls away and started on the weakest looking of the three, grabbing her bag and tipping it onto the ground, "huh…October 31st soon or something?"

The brunette that was gripping his arm looked confusedly before one of the other girls whispered in her ear and she laughed coldly, "so; going as another Vampire to one of the other freaks party, or should I say; a Circus," with a smirk she picked up a corset and looked it over. But as soon as one of her professionally manicured fingers picked the clothing up an arm grabbed onto hers, digging its nails into the tanned skin and the brunette dropped it with a squeal, "hey bitch!"

The Goth scowled at her and without hesitation dug her claw-like nails further into the girl, smirking as she writhed in pain before she sent a fist flying into her chest. She quickly retrieved her clothes as her companions stood protectively in front of her, fists raised threateningly, blocking any route to harm her with a raised eyebrow and an 'I don't think you want to do that' smirk. Yet that was all we saw happening, as the outbreak was just the opportunity we were looking for and without a second thought of consideration, about ten Goths including us flooded out of Apocalypse, but even the fight didn't protect all of us.

I hadn't taken more than a few steps than a boy niftly stuck out his leg and I fell, yet that wasn't the worst part; as he and his friends watched me falling another grabbed my bags and two more managed to push Wanda and Rogue out of the way; making me a clear target. Lexa made to move forward but the same two that pushed Rogue and Wanda shoved her hard, ignoring as she fell onto the ground roughly; jumping up without hesitation and moving swiftly forward but she wasn't quick enough. As I tried to stand up and was shoved back down a boy pushed some others out of the way and stood in front of me protectively, "now dat really ain't a way to treat a fille."

He tilted his head questioningly at the boy in front of him as he towered over him and smirked as the Jock began to back away, only to fall straight back into another guy, "you better watch it mate; don't wanna get yourself into trouble with the wrong guys now do ya?" He smirked and tilted his head, watching as the Jock walked away, avoiding a platinum haired boy who watched amusedly as the Jock and his friends hurried off.

I still sat dazedly on the ground, staring after the retreating boys only stirring as the boy who stood in front of me picked up my bags and another pulled me up so I was on my feet, I looked bewilderedly up at him as the other guy handed me my things, "here y' go Cherie, don't want t' lose dese tings do y'?"

"Uh no, thanks," I smiled gratefully at him before turning to the guy in front of me with a gasp, "Larry?"

He frowned in confusion but then smiled, "Kat!"

I frowned back, 'Kat? Who does he, like, think he's talking to! Oh…oh yeh, nope, he thinks he's like, talking to Kat…' "uh, hey!"

"You deux know each other den?"

"Yeh I met Kat at a night club," Larry turned back to me and smiled, "this is Remy, John and, uh, Pietro…" the boys all smiled at me and as I turned to introduce the girls I noticed a strange remembrance pass through Rogue and Wanda's eyes before they shrugged it off.

"This is Wanda, Lexa and, uh…"

Rogue

"Ah'm Marie," I smiled at the boys, ignoring the girls' puzzled looks, _"don't you guys think Rogue stands out a little too much, I need to fit in remember and Rogue is one of my more outstanding features."_ The girls all smiled as I passed the message onto them and I turned back to the boys, "well, thanks fohr tha help but we didn't need it."

"Y' kiddin, de fille needed help so Remy gave it Chere," I scowled at the Cajun as his nickname sprung back memories.

VvV Flashback VvV

"Bravo Chere, looks like de Rogue is up t' no good. Mais hey, Remy like dat in a girl."

"Shame that everything ah lahke in a guy has nothing in tha least ta do with ya."

VvV Another Flashback VvV

"What tha hell do ya think yahre doing here!"

"Quoi? Can't Remy see his Chere?"

"Numbah one, ah'm not yahres and thank god ah'll nevah be! And numbah two, y'all get caught."

"So y' do care bout dis Cajun den Chere!"

"In yahre wildest dreams."

"Whats wrong wid dat?"

VvV Another Flashback VvV

Remy smirked down at Rogue as she gazed up at him and in a swift motion kissed her lips lightly before running to the balcony and jumping into the grounds below. Rogue ran to the balcony railings and glared murder as she watched him run off into the dark and yelled after him, "YA EVAH DO THAT AGAIN SWAMP RAT AND AH CAN GUARANTEE YA WON'T EVA SEE YAHRE BALLS AGAIN!" She paused and growled as Remy turned to blow her a kiss and yelled again, "AND DON'T CALL MEH CHERE!"

VvV Another Flashback VvV

Remy looked down at Rogue with a smirk, "bonjour Chere."

"Didn't ah tell ya not ta call meh that Swamp Rat!"

Remy ignored the Goth's scowl and smirked flirtatiously, "if Chere gets t' call Remy Swamp Rat den Remy gets t' call Rogue Chere."

VvV End of Flashback VvV

'God he's so much lahke Remy its uncanny, ah mean; he even has tha same name…but he looks so different from Remy, and besahdes; he doesn't have tha eyes, this isn't tha Cajun ah knew and besahdes its not lahke ah care, that was ancient history not ta be repeated.' Rogue rolled her eyes and turned to the other girls, watching with raised eyebrows as Kitty and Larry chatted away happily, Pietro and Lexa flirted outright and Wanda and John silently watched each other with mutual curiosity, 'they remahnd meh so much of tha gahs from tha Brotherhood and tha Acolytes, but they're so different. Remy's hair was shorter than that, it didn't flop inta his eyes and he didn't have a line of stubble running up his cheeks, besahdes; where's tha Goatee, coz tha gah in front of meh doesn't have one. Tha pyromaniac John didn't have side burns eithah and his hair was longer than that, flopping inta his eyes; but this gahs hair is shorter and obviouslah gelled up, but tha old John nevah lahked gel…well apart from tha fact it was flammable…and that's tha othah thing; if this was Pyro then he'd of got out a laghter bah now. Larry, well for one he's Larry not Lance, and Lance's his hair was much shorter than that and bettah tamed; not flowing about everywhere, and if yah'd have told Lance he'd grow a Goatee when he was older he'd of laughed in ya face. Pietro, well tha Pietro standing in front of me is lahke tha speeder one; flirtatious with platinum hair, but tha old one wouldn't have stayed in tha same spot so long, he'd be flirting with more than one girl and he'd be showing off lahke no tomorrah. His hair was shorter than that and well, this gah has less tame hair and it isn't so gelled back perfectlah, he is taller and tha othah Pietro was much more lean and skinny than that; tha Quicksilver definitely didn't have that much muscle.' After Rogue had finished eyeing the boys up she knew these guys definitely weren't the guys she had known when she was younger, they just had similarities that's all and it wasn't like she cared at all; that was in the past and sticking there. "Gahs lets go," she watched as Wanda nodded absentmindedly, never taking her eyes of John and still watching him with a distinct curiosity although the both of them had definitely moved closer, their bodies now pressed up against the others. Lexa shrugged in response and smirked at Pietro, turning her back on him after taking a piece of paper that would surely be holding his cell number, and of course; she turned back after a second to give him her own. Kitty/Kat and Larry both smiled at each other regretfully and said goodbye, leaving Rogue to say her own goodbye to Remy who did it by taking her hand and leaning down gracefully to kiss it.

"Au revoir Chere, it was tres bon meeting y'."

Rogue rolled her eyes but couldn't hold back a smirk; "it was nahce meeting ya ta." She smirked at Remy and the girls began to walk away, Kitty catching up with a blush framing her cheeks after kissing Larry quickly on the cheek and the girls headed towards the car, each with a particular person framing their mind.

VvVvVvV

Wanda

I rolled my eyes as I listened to the News; boring, boring, boring…no deaths, no strange incidents, nothing I could be proud of, nothing us girls could boast about to each other. Yet just as I turned the TV off, I had no idea that this was my turn to change that, all I knew was that Betsy and Lorna were coming into the lounge and sitting down with a stack of papers in hand. Now that could only mean one thing; "what's my mission today?"

Betsy smiled, "well, aren't we well trained," she lifted a hand from the arm of the sofa and levitated the papers to me, smirking satisfactorily as I greedily snatched at them with an intense, hungry sparkle in my eye. "Someone in particular has been causing trouble for the company; starting fights which he never finishes and leaves for some other sod to take care of, giving us money troubles and we have no idea how they started. This guy needs to be dealt with…preferably immediately. He isn't working with a chain of people, hell he doesn't even have a partner; the fact is he's a loner in the business and that makes him an even easier target, that's what causes the problem; he knows how easy he is and he does everything to flaunt it."

"Soooo…my problem is?"

Lorna rolled her eyes, "don't you get it Wanda; the guy is an easy target and he shows it; so what does that tell you? Come on girl you've done all about this in your training!"

I smirked at Lorna's impatient expression and held the answer in for as long as possible, watching her getting even more frustrated and, as she opened her mouth to give me the answer and a lecture for not paying attention, I cut her short; "the guy has secret security on the back up; he leads people into a false sense of security at the ease of the murder, yet once they're in the league he lets loose his guys and the murder twists so the supposed murderer is the murdered."

Lorna opened her mouth to let loose a snide remark but Betsy cut her short, "you know…I really couldn't of put it better myself; you look like you could handle the job alone, which is the reason why you've been given the job to handle alone. Lady Deathstrike is impressed with how well you girls can work together, but she really wants to put you to the test and see just how good you are working alone; you know how bored she gets with her employees working perfectly, she has to throw in a nasty one and see if you can accomplish the task and if not; you're history and no use to her so she'll get rid of you." Betsy leaned forward on her seat and for one of the first times in my life I thought I saw a glimpse of fear and worry streak through her eyes, but it was gone as soon as it had came and replaced with none other than sheer determination on my behalf, "you have to do this and you have to do it right Wanda."

That was all she said to me and as she sat back up both Betsy and Lorna left me to the papers containing blue prints of the guys house and images/information about the guy himself; Mr. Dyne.

VvVvVvV

Xavier sat in his wheelchair, peering curiously at his companion over his steepled fingers and contemplated the matter before himself, "so let me get this straight Edmund; you have been the one causing trouble for them yet they are the ones looking to kill you?" Xavier let escape a small, pitying sigh as Edmund nodded and then thought for a while, considering how to put what he would say next before he spoke again, "you have caused them months of trouble and you are surprised that they may be issuing you a death sentence as we speak?"

"Uh…well, yes Xavier," Edmund twisted his expensive bowler hat in his hands and tried to look anywhere but Xavier's disbelieving face, choosing instead to look at the other members in the room but deciding against it as he caught the disgusted look on Logan's face. "But…well look here; this company has done nothing but nearly ruin me for years…" Edmund made to carry on but was disrupted as a snort of disbelief rang through the room.

"Nearly!"

Xavier raised his eyebrows warningly at Logan and gestured for Edmund to carry on speaking which he did, "yes well…they've almost ruined me countless times, are constantly causing my company troubles and try to dissuade business from me with success practically every time, I just thought to teach them a lesson of my own. I know it was slightly foolish of me…" Edmund caught Xavier raising his eyebrows and paused, "oh alright; it was very foolish of me, seeing their reputation, but it was a spur of the moment thing and they never let things like this lie so I can't try and take it back because it's happened. I have some of the best security in the whole state of New York, but there are some areas in my life I can't protect and I need help with it…you see, it's not me that's in danger; they already know I'm too highly protected, it's…well it's my son. He is so highly protected, at the moment he is protected even more than me Xavier, but you see he causes so much trouble and does everything he can to avoid the security; sneaking out at unimaginable hours to all of my clubs and he loves it; it causes complete uproar and he drives me crazy, but he knows he can get away with it. He hates me with utter disgust, as I am not even his own father; his mother married me and then died of breast cancer, leaving her son for me to take care of as one of my own yet I am only his step-father so he doesn't listen to a word I say; he never approved of the marriage in the first place and therefore after his mother's death he just wants to get rid of me. But as soon as I let him run his own course he'll be a moving target for anyone that wants him, because everyone knows that I love him more than I could love anyone else; you have to help me Xavier! Anyone that goes for him goes straight for me, and I need someone to keep an eye on him! Please?"

"He has a good point Charles, but why do you have to use someone here?"

"I need someone his age, that will get on with him and that likes to do what he does, you know; my son will know the purpose that they're with him but instead of running away from them due to embarrassment of being seen with security or someone older he'll have someone his age so he can flirt and do as he likes without the feeling that he's constantly being watched and criticised. Just someone around his age that knows how to have a good time and have fun with Matthew but at the same someone who can keep their eye on him; a companion that will keep him interested so he won't run off and get into trouble."

"You know what Charles, I have two that would be perfect for the job," Logan smirked as he quickly pulled open the door and as it fell open John and Remy fell with it, John landing on top of Remy who groaned in pain before shoving John off who began to laugh maniacally and before long Remy joined in, although their moment was quickly disrupted as Logan unleashed both sets of claws, cms away from the boys heads.

"Watch it wid de claws Wolfy, damn dat was close to Remy's head!" Remy rolled over away from Logan's claws and sat up, watching as John lay frozen to the spot; Logan's claws being much closer to his head than Remy's, but after a while he let out a small squeak and sat up staring curiously at the guest.

"Well, I…" Edmund stared shocked at Logan before he turned to Remy and John, "I…"

"Are my students suitable for you?" Xavier frowned as Edmund stared in shock at the two boys before he frowned in disgust.

"I am afraid that I don't think they will be suitable, for one; my son does not like French and detests the language," he ignored Remy's vicious snarl, "and he despises lunatics finding them irritating and despicable." John sat confusedly, looking around for a lunatic before he finally realised he was the one being talked about and he got up, launching himself at Edmund who stumbled up with a cry, backing away as John tried to reach around Remy who had grabbed him round the middle.

Remy tried to hold back John as he spoke, although he was very tempted just to let the Aussie go, "well, see Remy tink dat it ain't your garçon (boy) dat tinks dat way bout us, Remy tinks dat it may be toi (you) dat has de problem mais y' gonna blame it on y' garçon t' protect yourself mais at de same time letting both of us know what y' tink of us." Remy watched with a satisfied smirk as Edmund began to look sheepish and tried to look anywhere but John who paused before making new attempts to attack him.

After a chuckle that he managed to conceal as a cough, Xavier tried to reason with Edmund, "look; these boys would be perfect; they both know how to have a good time and can entertain Matthew but at the same time they will be able to watch him closely and no matter how hard he tries to lose the both of them, Matthew will fail. Xavier paused as his guest made to interrupt and stopped him by holding up a hand then continued, "Remy is an ex-thief," seeing the expression on Edmund's face Xavier sighed. "_Ex_-thief Edmund, _ex_, and therefore he has the training that will enable him to keep an eye on Matthew and he will also be able to spot any attempts Matthew makes to escape and foil them without causing trouble. John will be useful at keeping Matthew occupied, entertaining him and giving him a fun night so he won't even think of running off. These two are your perfect answer for keeping Matthew out of trouble whilst you have your meeting; the staff will be with you so you won't have any extra protection and people will think the route is clear; yet unknown to them you have two of my most experienced X-men, these two are used to scuffles and even life/death situations, they know how to have a good time but to keep on the lookout having done it countless times in the past. Their powers cause enough trouble to cause diversions and they can slip away with Matthew unnoticed to anyone going after him; Gambit's powers are to cause kinetic explosions, he touches an object and can kinetically charge it to explode; Pyro's powers are simply to control the element of fire, yet in that power he can destroy it, control it and easily master it." Xavier looked at Edmund who was watching both adults with curiosity and satisfaction, "take it or leave it; we both know which option would be more beneficial to both you and your son, Mr Dyne."

End of Chapter

Wow…that took a while to write, and I hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next chapter! Because I am certainly looking forward to writing it! Just to give you a tip; I _guarantee_ JONDA in the next chapter…but the question is…should I make it a little…or a lot! Why don't you prompt me just how far I should go in a review! Love Thrills, xxx


	13. Ready or Not?

Ok, I know I said mission this chapter but it's getting pretty long so…this is post-mission ok, and next chapter I promise will be the mission! Enjoy!

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

_"Telepathic thoughts are in italic and speech marks"_

Chapter 13

VvV Change it all in a Mission VvV

Wanda:

I smirked and slammed the papers back onto the coffee table, ignoring as it shook at the force and instead I leant back into the sofa, closing my eyes; finally I was finished with reading up about the crap and now my plan could all fall into place. As I listened to the silence around me my eyes snapped open the moment the peace was disrupted and I turned my head lazily to watch as Rogue and Lexa entered the room, both joining me on the sofa with smirks I copied. Rogue placed both hands onto the sofa and swung herself over the back of it to plonk herself right next to me and lean forward instantly to peer at the papers just as Lexa ran up to the sofa. She jumped and turned in mid air so she placed her hands onto the back of the sofa behind Rogue, flipping herself over to the wall opposite she hit it with her feet; pushing herself to flip again and land comfortably on the sofa, her legs neatly crossed as she landed, sitting upright and watching Rogue, taking the papers to examine them the minute Rogue was done.

"Soooo, anothah mission then? Whah weren't we told bout this?"

I leaned forward and the papers began to glow then float towards me no matter how hard Lexa pulled on them, seeming as she was pulled with them, "because this is _my_ mission…as in; a mission solely for the Scarlet Witch."

Rogue and Lexa's jaws dropped open and Lexa didn't even bother to sit down as she stared in horror at me, "WHAT!"

"This is _my_ mission, specially and personally for _me_."

"How tha hell did ya get that!"

I placed the files back down onto the coffee table and leaned back into the sofa, smirking at Rogue and Lexa's impressed expressions, "oh, don't worry Rogue; Deathstrike's gonna be giving you two your own personal missions too and Kitty as well…talking of the Cat, where is she?" The moment I mentioned Kitty Lexa and Rogue gave each other a single look and burst into hysterics, after a while Lexa fell uncontrollably back into the sofa as she clutched her stomach, "well?"

Rogue tried to speak to me between laughs and had a very difficult time of doing so, "well, see…well; ya know we still haven't brought the shopping in, well us three went ta check it out but none of us could be bothered ta bring it in…and, well, we were wondering about whethah or not we could actually fit anything else in. So Kitty took up tha challenge and…well…" Rogue stopped speaking as, with a sparkle of remembrance shining in her eyes, she fell of the sofa; her laughing doubling and her hysterics taking control.

VvV Flashback VvV

"That is, like, one packed car…" Rogue, Lexa and Kitty stood in front of the car staring at the bags that were squashed against the sides of the boot, the boot being a bit small seeming as the car was designed for looking good, not storage.

"Yup…you think anything else could fit in?"

"Nope, ya trah and fit anything else in that boot and it'll get squashed."

Kitty frowned as she thought about it and then smiled, "well, I think we could, like, fit something else in it…" having rethought her proposition Kitty frowned again and didn't look so sure.

"All right then Kitty, if you can fit one more thing into Wanda's boot, mind you; without breaking it coz Wanda would kill you, I'll pay you…hmmm," Lexa rummaged through her purse and held up a wad of cash, "$50."

Kitty smirked, "you're on," she stepped up to the car and smirked, "you never said phasing didn't count loser," as she spoke Kitty phased through all of the bags and into the car, lying down into the pile of bags.

Lexa smirked as an idea crossed her mind, "all right, but we have to close the boot to make sure you really fit in," she watched as Kitty thought the idea over and then nodded before Lexa put the boot down, after giving a single nod to Rogue, and they both burst out laughing as they heard a squeal.

"ROGUE! THAT'S, LIKE, SO TOTALLY NOT FAIR! YOU CAN'T, LIKE, USE DORIAN'S POWERS ON ME! I'M STUCK! LET ME OUT!"

But Kitty's shrieks only got louder as she realised Rogue and Lexa had both gone.

VvV End of Flashback VvV

Rogue's face was wet with tears of mirth by the time she had finished and she wiped several away as she spoke, "so ah used Dorian Leech's powahs, and he has tha power to nullify all energy sources, including powahs; ya know, so when ah used his powahs Kitty's own powahs faulted on her so now she's stuck in your boot completely squashed bah all of tha bags!" Rogue couldn't speak any more as she broke into further peels of laughter which rose in volume as Kitty appeared in the doorway, fuming.

"ROGUE! YOU EVIL BITCH, I AM SO GONNA KILL YOU! YOU FUCKING BITCH!" She immediately regretted shouting and leant against the doorframe to get her breathing back, seeming as the bags had compressed on her chest and caused a bit of difficulty breathing.

"Aw, come on Kit, ya should have known ma powahs would fault aftah a while if ah wasn't paying attention ta them," Rogue shrugged as Kitty tried to string a sentence together and gave up, instead lunging at Rogue; phasing through the sofa at her. Rogue simply let Kitty phase through herself and watched as Kitty phased through the wall behind, her bottom half the only thing visible as Kitty let out a growl that none of the girls could hear due to the fact that the walls were sound proof and both Lexa and Rogue were too hysterical to focus on using their powers.

Kitty phased back into the room and turned to face Rogue, still fuming before she let out another growl and then got an idea, "fine! I challenge you to a one-on-one fighting arena; no powers!" The minute the word 'challenge' was mentioned silence echoed throughout the room and all four girls' faces were set dead serious.

"Yahre on Kit-Kat," Rogue stood up and cracked her knuckles menacingly, being watched closely by Lexa and me, both of us had identical looks on our faces, looks that definitely said; 'hungry for a fight'. Both opposing girls and the audience (me and Lexa) stood up and walked calmly out of the room and headed to a large painting at the end of the corridor, a simple painting of a gorgeous oak tree with leaves circling the edge of the canvas as a border, the same oak tree situated outside Lexa's and my own balcony. But we ignored the painting and Rogue pushed two leaves on the border of the painting that stuck out slightly and no sooner had she pressed it then a quiet 'ding' sound was heard and the painting parted in half to reveal a plain metallic lift. It was completely empty yet as we stepped in it and the doors closed they revealed a black screen with a large keyboard underneath it and this was what Rogue stepped up to, pushing the largest button on the keyboard and stepping back as we all watched the black screen flash into life. The screen showed all four of us girls in a large picture in our fighting outfits and then we minimised and shrunk back into a corner, next a large picture of Polaris and Psylocke in their fighting outfits flashed up and then minimised into another corner, then a picture of a large, circular, grey door appeared and suddenly with a SNIKT five claws shot up it. The last picture shot up now and showed a red '+' sign, showing the medic bay and this last option shrunk back into the last available corner, once that had shrunk back something else appeared, yet this time it was writing; 'type in desired' and once this had shrunk back into the middle of the screen Rogue immediately pressed the picture of the door with the claws.

The picture grew again and a female voice rung out, "welcome to the danger room, confirmation of user is required before entry," a small pad shot out and Rogue pressed her thumb onto it and it shot back, "user is confirmed, welcome…Rogue. Please state desired training," the keypad flashed and a large typing box appeared on the screen, once Rogue had typed in her requirements and pressed enter the box flashed and the voice rang out, "Rogue vs. Shadowcat, one-on-one fighting arena, powerless, with audience; Scarlet Witch and X-23. Please confirm," the pad shot out again and Rogue pressed her thumb onto it; the moment she did the screen turned black and the lift shook. After a while another 'ding' was heard and the voice rang out, "enjoy your training, please take a trip to the medic bay afterwards to check all wounds over." Straight after the voice finished there was a flash of light in the lift and when all four of us opened our eyes again we were all in a completely different place.

X-23 and me were much higher than Rogue and Shadowcat and looked down at the fighting arena, both of us seated in two chairs designed specially for the user. I was seated in a fancy, scarlet lounging chair, leaning casually against the arm of it and twirling my red tips lovingly through my fingers, our image inducers having been removed in the flash, whilst peering curiously down at the two fighters, sat next to me was X-23, seated in an identical lounging chair yet it was a midnight blue, so dark that her hair blended perfectly with it. We peered down at Rogue and Shadowcat, who, like me and X-23 also, had been changed into our fighting outfits the moment the flash appeared. They stood either end of a large arena, which was completely bare yet had a huge glass dome fitting perfectly around it to keep both girls in the same area, it was designed specifically so none of us, not even Rogue with her powers or X-23 with her adamantium skeleton, could smash it and so that Shadowcat couldn't even phase through it.

As they glared at each other the same voice that had rang out in the lift rang out now, counting down the seconds until the fight could commence; both mutants being frozen at the moment to stop them taking the upper hand and cheating…not that cheating wasn't allowed. "3…2…1…" a large booming sound reverberated throughout the Danger Room and both mutants unfroze at the exact same time, charging at each other with speed, yet just as it seemed they would collide into one another Shadowcat bent to the ground, placing her hands onto it before she propelled herself straight through Rogue's legs before she even knew what was happening. And before Rogue even had the chance to turn around a kick landed in her back at such speed that it thrust Rogue forward onto the ground, yet she landed with a growl on her hands and pushed herself back towards Shadowcat, her feet landing straight on target in the phaser's gut; pushing her backwards into the dome.

Shadowcat moaned as she landed and dropped onto all fours, gasping for air as she slowly lifted her head to watch Rogue casually strolling towards her, "you, like, so cheated, you so used your enhanced-strength…" she paused to catch her breath and watched Rogue's lips twist in a half smirk/half snarl.

"Ya may be small Shadowcat, but ya still can't fit through ma legs lahke that; ya cheat and use yahre powahs, then so do ah," Rogue grabbed Shadowcat by the collar of her fighting gear and then turned round, sending a punch straight into Shadowcat's face, forcing her to fly back into the other side of the dome. Shadowcat slid down the glass and collapsed onto her knees, gasping for breath and fingering the forming bruise gently, her head was facing the floor yet through her hair she watched Rogue like a hawk. As the other Goth neared her, Shadowcat's eyes narrowed viciously and before Rogue knew what was happening the phaser had placed her hands onto the ground and at the same time swung her legs around, swiftly knocking the other off of her feet. It was Rogue's time to fall and she fell with a thud onto the ground, scowling as her back began to throb from the pain, "ya bitch!"

"You wanna, like, see a bitch, then look at your own reflection in the glass, oh wait…you totally won't, like, be able to." Rogue opened her mouth to question Shadowcat's meaning but it was clear as a fist was hurled ferociously into her face, but whereas Rogue had paused after each hit to give her opponent time to recover Shadowcat was doing no such thing and as the fist was pulled away from Rogue's face it thrust back into it repeatedly. Until suddenly Rogue found a release of energy to fight back…at least that was what she intended to do, but as if by instinct, her hand suddenly shot out and in a lightning movement it pulled of the glove encasing her free hand and the bare, exposed skin reached up to grab Shadowcat's face. The girls both started to breath heavily as one felt the tug and the other felt the devouring force, which pulled Kitty's mind, soul and powers into the other; the force that gave her the well known reputation; the force that struck fear into all those who came close to contact; the force that made her Rogue.

Kitty fell to the ground when Rogue released her, her heart slowing from the way Rogue's powers made the phaser powerless, her breathing becoming deeper and more harsh as she tried to gulp in air, yet she felt her mind slipping away and collapsed; exhausted and drained.

Yet after a few seconds a glowing light absorbed Kitty's body and she was nowhere in sight, and as we watched her body fade from the arena Rogue's own body and both mine and Lexa's faded away into the light, and next thing we knew Lexa and me were seated on hard plastic seats in the Medic Bay. We both looked ahead of us at the two beds directly in front of ourselves and I stood up, walking over to Rogue's bed, "you shouldn't have absorbed her Rogue…"

I would have said more but Lexa interrupted as she stood up and followed me, "yeh girl; why absorb her? Why didn't you fight back?"

"Ah don't know…" she frowned but then thought better and turned her expression blank as the movement tensed her bruised face, "ah was planning ta fahght back but ah…well, ma hand just reached up outah instinct and sucked her in; ah didn't mean ta!"

Both Lexa and me knew that Rogue's last statement was more to reassure herself than us, but we sympathised to try and help her calm down, "I know Rogue, it's ok. I thought you gained control?"

"Ah did…its just sometimes when ma emotion get tha bettah of meh than ah triggah it bah accident and set them off…oh gawd, what did ah do! Ah always screw up lahke this!"

"Oh stop getting in such a pissy about it all, she's cool, ain't she Lorna," Lexa turned to Lorna who stared wide-eyed at her.

"I still can't get used to it when you do that!" she raised her palms to the ceiling and shrugged her shoulders as if to say, 'what the hell!'

"I don't mean to do it, it's coz of the training; when someone comes up behind me my enhanced smelling instinctively kicks in, just like Rogue instinctively uses her powers when she has a choice between defence or attack and like Wanda accidentally hexes things when they aren't going her way, and how Kitty phases whenever she feels trapped or when she gets scared because she doesn't understand." Lexa shrugged, "it's our personal instincts…we can't stop them; it's just natural and they happen without our consent."

We all looked at her, "blahmey gahl…that was impressive!"

"I just thought it up on the spot and went along with it…it seemed like the right thing to say," Lexa looked to Lorna for confirmation and turned back to Rogue and me with a satisfied smirk as the medic nodded.

"Anyway, you two need to go so that I can check on Rogue, and Wanda you need to get started with preparations for your mission," Lorna turned her back to us as she spoke and we both headed down the Medic Bay towards the familiar picture of the oak tree, knowing as we stepped into the lift that their was no room for discussion.

VvVvVvV

Lexa:

Kitty and Rogue stood in the entrance hall both fully healed over and chatting quietly, I stood leaning on the balcony and watched them for a while before my song changed and I pressed my hands over the headphones, nodding my head in rhythm as I began to walk down the stairs, turning up my I-pod as I went and beginning to sing along, "**boys, boys, hey you wanna know somethin', boys, boys, wassup girl! I know what boys like, I know what guys want, I know what boys like, I got what boys like**." I carried on walking down the stairs, clicking my fingers to the rhythm with one hand still on my headphones and as the song played on I stopped on a stair and lifted my hands above my head, shaking my hips before I twirled to the music, "**uh huh, uh huh, I know what the boys like, I know what the guys want, I see them lookin', look, look, look, lookin'. What makes them want me? I like to tease them!" **I put both hands back up to my headphones and carried on walking down the stairs, still nodding my head. "**They want to touch me, I never let them! I know what boys like, I know what guys want, I know what boys like, boys like, boys like! I know what boys like, I got what boys want, I know what boys like, boys like, boys like," **I stopped singing for a bit and walked up to Rogue and Kitty, **"boys like me!"** I reached them and linked arms with Kitty, "wassup girl! Wooh!"

I unlinked arms and clicked my fingers, twirling my hips before sticking my arms out in front of myself and making a circle with them, "**sucker! Boys, boys…boys, boys…boys, boys…boys, boys! Guys want!"**

"**I know what boys like, I know what guys want, I know what boys like, boys like, boys like! I know what boys like, I got what boys want, I know what boys like, boys like, boys like! I know what boys like, I know what guys want, I know what boys like! I know what boys like, I got what boys want, I know what boys like, boys like, boys like! Yeh, I know what boys like; come on girls, you know what they like! It ain't no secret!"**

I grabbed Kitty's hand and twirled her and she squealed with laughter, "I, like, love that song! You totally have to play it again!" I started the song again and turned up the volume to maximum, placing my I-pod onto a small end table in the entrance hall, grabbing Kitty's hand as we danced together to the music. We danced in circles, twirling around the entrance hall, and as I twirled my hands in a circle, raising my arms above my head still twirling them, Kitty rolled her hips in time to the music before we strutted over to each other and she grabbed my hand, twirling me in a circle and then we sung along, "**I know what boys like, I know what guys want, I know what boys like, boys like, boys like! I know what boys like, I got what guys want, I know what boys like! Boys like, boys like! Boys like me!"** we both laughed as we stuck our arms in front of ourselves and made circling motions with them, "**yeh, I know what boys like; come on girls, you know what they like! It ain't no secret!" **we carried on dancing until the song came to an end and, as Rogue coughed, we both turned with sheepish grins to our audience of Lorna, Betsy and Rogue.

"Nahce dancing gahls," she smirked at Kitty and me, and I laughed.

"Well, we are entitled to have a bit of fun in the privacy of our own homes," Kitty laughed along and I ran over to my I-pod, turning down the volume as I stuck the headphones back in, once again I was stuck in more music and I bobbed my head along to it; one hand pressed over a headphone as I clicked the other along to the beat. "Wanda ready yet?"

"Nah, othawahse she woulda been down here," Rogue rolled her eyes as I tilted my head questioningly at her and yelled 'what.' "Fohrget it," she rolled her eyes again as I repeated myself, "FOHRGET IT!" her echo reverberated around the entrance hall but I still didn't hear it, although as soon as I opened my mouth to ask again she stormed over to me. Rogue took a headphone out of my ear and yelled straight into it, "AH SAID FOHRGET IT YA YAHOO!"

"Sheesh, I'm not deaf you know," I held my hand over the ear as it rang with the sound before I shook my head, placing the headphone straight back in, "moron." But as soon as the headphones had been placed back in my ears they were tugged out and my I-pod floated down to the end table, I turned automatically to Rogue who was watching the stairs boredly, "hey bitch!"

Betsy interrupted me however, "luv, if you'd looked around you may have noticed that Rogue wasn't the one concentrating on you," I turned with her words but she pointed behind herself at Lorna who perked an eyebrow, causing me to resume a blank expression on my face instead of my previous scowl.

"If you were paying attention you would of noticed that we have company," she nodded to the stairs and I watched as Wanda came down, rolling her eyes at me as we made eye contact.

"What did you do this time?" she sighed but my attention was caught as she reached the bottom of the stairs and stood for all to see.

She wore a seductive scarlet corset that clung to her chest tightly and revealed her bust, with black lace decorating the front in a criss-cross pattern, on her lower half she wore tight, hip hugging, black leather pants that flared slightly at the bottom. Hanging through the loops of the pants was a scarlet ribbon that draped down to her lower thigh. She wore scarlet high heeled boots that were hidden by her trousers, and lining her wrists, arms and fingers were countless black and scarlet rings, bangles and studded collars, also rapped tightly around her neck was a studded collar and the studs were bright, sparkling rubies that excentuated her scarlet tips; being allowed to reveal them as they were suitable for her to blend into the background at the club she would be going to for the mission. Her earring were her classic black crosses embellished with rubies, and for a jacket she had a black leather jacket that reached down to her hips and matched perfectly with her trousers. Her make up was heavily Gothic; a thick lining of bright, scarlet lipstick and scarlet eyeshadow professionally applied over heavily, blackened eyes, which was done by her usual heavy amounts of mascara and eyeliner. She looked as she normally did on a night out; gorgeous, seductive, Gothic and dangerous all rolled perfectly into an immaculate contrast.

"Well, I think I might just be ready," Wanda smirked as Betsy nodded, "see you guys tomorrow; cuz you babies will probably be in bed by the time I get back," she laughed and Betsy gestured for her to go but I called her name and Wanda paused.

Grabbing Wanda's arm I pulled her over to the side so everyone else couldn't hear, "Wanda, what ever you do don't get distracted; this is a life or death matter."

Wanda raised her eyebrows at me, "I know Lexa, don't get your pants in a twist."

"Short-shorts actually," Wanda rolled her eyes, "anyway; please you gotta do this properly, not only for yourself but for us, we'd all miss you so badly if anything happened to you," Wanda's expression softened as I spoke and she placed a hand on my shoulder as if to tell me not to worry before she smiled comfortingly and walked towards Betsy.

"I'm ready," she smiled at the rest of us as I stood next to Rogue and Kitty, "see you guys tomorrow," we all smiled and muttered 'bye' before Wanda headed after Betsy and out of the door.

"Ya think she'll manage without us?" Rogue frowned unsurely but turned to Kitty as she placed a hand on the Goth's shoulder.

"Like, how could she not?" Kitty gave a consoling smile and we all turned to head down the corridor to go to the pool, but we paused as we heard the limousine rumbling out of the drive, all still unsure of whether or not Wanda really could do this by herself, and, when the time came; whether we'd be able to manage?

End of Chapter

I thought I'd add a bit of fun into that chapter with the fighting and dancing (I was listening to that song when I got the idea, it's called _'I know what boys like'_ by _Vitamin C_, classic kick ass song, you must listen to it if you can!) And also I thought I'd add a bit of worry for all you readers out there with the end comments. Lexa and Wanda's fight will be when Wanda gets back from the mission ok, just thought I'd clarify that. Ok, so her mission is next chapter! And it'll take up the whole of the chappie so enjoy, I swear there will be LOADS of JONDA! But not too much, hehehe! Love Thrills, xxx


	14. xxx Wanda’s Mission xxx

Right, I'm sorry for the lateness of this chapter but I'm really having problems with the starting…the end was easy but its just the rest I'm worried about. Ok, here goes!

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

_"Telepathic thoughts are in italic and speech marks"_

Written letters or notes are underlined also when talking on the telephone the other line will be underlined 

Chapter 14

VvV Wanda's Mission; the Scarlet Witch shows her True Colour VvV

The bouncer looked the girls up and down with what both of them presumed to be as admiration for the suitability of their outfits…well, one knew that was what he was thinking; the other could only presume and she guessed correctly.

"Names?" his voice was deep and, although his gaze lingered on the maturer of the two, only by age, it sounded slightly bored as if he had no care in the world that he was protecting a highly 'respectable' club from unwanted guests. His next words were spoken in the same tone, yet this time with a hint of a threat and a slight note that showed he had been reciting these words from the moment of employment; "if your name ain't on the list then you ain't welcome on the list," by the way that he took a deep breath after his first words it seemed to both girls that this could took a while. "And if your name ain't welcome on the list then you ain't welcome in the club so…"

"So we better scram before ya make us, yeh luv, we get the picture," a perked eyebrow and an incredulous expression met Betsy's interruption: it seemed the bouncer wasn't really used to being interrupted. "Look, I'm not on the list I'm only here to make sure she gets in luv, ok?" No response was needed and she waited for none, "good. Now lets get this sorted, names are not needed because they are not necessary," the Bouncer seemed to disagree by the way he opened his mouth to interrupt, but Betsy simply held up her card and repeated herself, "no luv, names are **not** needed; understand?"

The only answer required was a single nod and with that Wanda felt a hand pushing on her back and she stumbled through the open doors into the darkness beyond, she turned to give Betsy a last glance as the model began to walk away: a single glance was exchanged: no words; no 'good lucks' and then she had turned back round and walked back to the car. The view of Betsy's back walking away from her was the reality needed; there was no help now, she was alone, but the Bouncer's back was much more appealing; Wanda may be alone now, but she was in the business and she was about to be associated with company that the Scarlet Witch was looking forward to…although she really didn't know just how much she'd enjoy it.

A single figure moved through the crowds, her trained eyes searching frantically with her mind solely focussed on one purpose alone, yet that left the rest of her to focus on other things; mainly desire. Wanda paused in her search every now and then when a body caught her eye, when a face caught her attention and she would let the body rub up against her own, let the face whisper into her ear as the owners hands groped and felt, pushing fiercely up against her body. Sweating bodies rubbed and pushed against each other as she moved through the crowds, parting it as men moved back to let this goddess through, admiring her sexuality as the women would stare jealously at her; taking in her image, with some even using it for tips as to their image, lowering their tops and untying hair letting it flow over flowing bodies, allowing the whole body to mingle in the intense heat that was the dance.

Constantly searching through the heat and intensity of the dance floor was Wanda's intention yet sometimes her eyes would be drawn from the locked crowds to watch dancers; picking up the moves and flows of those about her, getting free tips from those who seemed to be either regulars to the dance floor or possibly professionals themselves.

She would press against bodies, allow their hands to mess with her hair; gripping it as she dipped against their bodies, allowing them to search her with hands that squeezed her ass intensely and gripped her hips and waist to twist her fresh body against their own. They would trail hands from her thighs, rubbing teasingly and suggestively along them, trailing them over her stomach to grip her waist and twist her to then travel up past her firm, bouncing breasts to run through her hair and then to reach up with her own hands, lifting them in the air as the guys would press their pelvis' into her own, rotating her hips to create more intense friction between them. But she would only ever allow a free map of her body and a quick twirl of heat before she would release her hands from groping grips to move on; find a new body as she made her way through the crowds until finally her quest was complete and Wanda appeared, flushed and sweating, through the dancers.

She was watched from afar, examined with a frown before her admirer turned back to his friend, perking an eyebrow in question, "yeh mate?"

"Y' don' have t' stare Johnny, y' in de club now; go introduce y' self, or jus' go dance," a smirk was met with another and John stood.

"C'ya mates," a chuckle met his comment from Remy and a bark of laughter from Matt before the guys both turned to the women who sat, snuggled closely into their sides with smirks of their own that seemed to hold secret amusements.

Ignoring the people who bumped into him as they danced at the edge of the crowds, not even giving him a glimpse, it was as if they were used to bumping into people who walked past, which, if you were a regular in clubs, you'd have to be, John made his way after the girl. His eyes were only set on one girl but he still pleasured his desire when girls appeared by his side and crooned up at him whilst their arms rapped around his neck. He gave them the feeling they desired and left, for although several came to him as he walked, John's desire wasn't satisfied because his mind was set on another presence that seemed to captivate him and her image seemed to dance like fire in his eyes; her smirk shining like embers as her body twisted around others, like fire itself; burning in intensity and heat. But it wasn't only her fiery moves that captivated him, it was the way she seemed so fresh; people who walked in the club doors were fresh the moment they walked in, but then again, the moment they stepped into the lustful heat of the dance floor that freshness melted away into pure intensity and desire. The difference about her that was so intriguing, not only to John but to other men, was the fact her desire for dance never faltered; the fact that her intensity only grew as she parted the crowds, it increased dramatically with each heating dance she involved herself in. Whether she dipped low, thrust herself towards men, gave them smouldering glances, rotated her pelvis against theirs, whatever she did she looked as appealing as possible. If she acted slutty she was thrust from men to men, if she acted shy it was like her body became a magnet to every guy she passed; they couldn't take their eyes from her hips that swung rhythmically, from breasts that seemed to explode from a top a tad bit too small for them, from legs that went on and on, so slim and appealing.

Every dip of her hips as she walked, ever shake of her gorgeous, glossy hair that swung and shined in the dim light of the giant disco ball hanging from the ceiling was watched by John. The bar was the place he intended to corner her, as she appeared to be aiming for it, but at the last minute with a single pause and glimpse around herself, the girl changed direction and headed for the DJ booth with a look that gave her an aura of determination. It was that single look that caught the DJ's eye as he skimmed the crowd and he signalled for another to take his place as he grabbed his drink, strutting confidently down from the podium to lean against the wall she was backed against.

A smouldering look was given to the DJ as Wanda turned giving herself a secretive smirk, knowing the plan was working, and she knew he couldn't resist her look; it was the one they had taught her in her seduction section of the assassin course, the one you had to reserve for necessary occasions and this was it. He took the look in straight away and returned a less intense version that was obviously the best he could do, 'he needs practice…' Wanda intended to say this and she would have, if this wasn't so important, instead she turned it into what she presumed to be a casual yet flirtatious introduction; "hey."

The DJ smirked as he caught the hidden meaning of that introduction; the introduction was obvious, yet it gave a slight hint for him to return the gesture, and it portrayed her 'attraction' on those three single letters, it told him of her 'desire' in that single syllable, "hey there, and who would you be darlin'?"

"The names Catherine, but you can call me Cat, hunny," Wanda twirled her hair through her fingers innocently and bit her lip in a manner to make it look as if she were acting naughty.

"The names Joe babes…well I better get back to work, but why don't you come up?" he nodded towards the booth with a suggestive smirk.

The plan was working and she showed it with a smirk of confidence and a nod that clearly said 'oh this asshole is easy,' but he only took it as a yes and returned the smirk, opening the door for Wanda and groping her ass as the Goth started to climb the stairs. Her patience was wearing thin and it was all she could do not to punch him in the nuts, but her look of inner fighting was only seen by a single person, because as soon as Joe joined her on the stairs her expression was all smirks. He still didn't notice her glare and clenched fists, possibly because he had walked ahead of her to high five the fellow DJ's and to introduce the lucky lady who was to join him in the booth, a smirk was all she gave but, unknown to Joe, they were smirks that said 'you even think of groping my ass and this fist **will** go in your faces.'

A second later she had ascended the next small flight of stairs and joined Joe next to the booth where she watched him introduce himself to screaming crowds.

His voice was bouncy, confident and it was as quick as Pietro's when the boy had been at the sugar, "well hey there girls and guys I hope your all ready to shake your asses!" his yell was met with screams and he smirked, "Joe's my name and DJ-ing…its so my game!" with those words the disk was flipped and Joe started his work.

Focussed was his mind for sure, but, to her relief it wasn't focussed on Wanda so she was now free to look about the crowds, so she did; she took in the familiar dance floor but now her attention skimmed over the seating area, which held dozens of circular sofa-like seats, all situated around tables that held numerous bags, accessories and drinks. Crowds were sat around each placement, fitting ten at the maximum so in many cases there were others leant against the seats, holding drinks as they chatted to flirts, passing drinks to others as many got involved in heated make out sessions.

The place was flooded with hundreds people, and to think; this was a 'guest only' night-club…she thought those two words would make this job easy, but it was a lot harder than she wanted it to be, not to say that Wanda hadn't anticipated it. That was why the DJ booth idea was so ideal; it was the highest point in the club, this could make it difficult to pinpoint her man but it made things easier…it gave her more opportunities but created more problems.

However just as Wanda was giving up hope at this idea her eyes spotted something much more interesting. It wasn't hard to spot him; his hair being bright, flaming orange and all…well how could you not spot it; it was like a lighthouse in an ebony black night, and it looked like she hadn't just caught his attention; by the way their eyes connected from even this distance he had been watching her. She **was **difficult to spot, the night club was black and red…and that meant the DJ booth was decorated in the same manner, so she blended in perfectly, 'he must have had his eyes on me from the minute is stepped out of those crowds…' Wanda had no idea just how accurate her idea was but she didn't pay second thought because she had more pressing matters to hand. Although, turning from him was rather difficult: it was like there was something about him that she couldn't stop looking at because she appeared to not be able to turn her gaze from him, her eyes were glued to his but after a while she managed to drag her head from his and not turn back.

Her heart lurched and she immediately regretted the decision; his eyes were so alluring, they sparkled in the darkness and were so bright, so cheerful and…and sexy. 'Where did that come from! Sexy…they're a pair of eyes!' Wanda rolled her own eyes at herself but returned to focus herself on the matter at present and then she saw it; a flash of green. It was only slight; the guy had decided to dye his hair a hunter green that Rogue would have deeply approved of, so it was a dark, almost black, green, but Wanda spotted it and her smile was the only give away of the fact that she had seen something she was so grateful for. What was better was the fact that, when she found him again she spotted the same guy she had been watching earlier seated next to him, as well as someone else that she recognised; the fact that her prey seemed to know two people she had met before helped matters greatly. So Wanda took advantage.

VvVvVvV

"Well hey there," a smile exchanged people and Wanda was offered a seat next to Remy, who obviously had rejected his girl the moment Wanda came to the area. A frown framed the girl's lips as Remy turned his back to her and, with a huff, she stood; heading to the bar to find some other easy prey. "Your…uh, Wendy right?"

"Wanda, and your Remy" the girl smirked but turned away from Remy to give a smile to the two men opposite her, "and you must be John," a smile passed between the Wanda and the guy in question but he could only give a nod…his lips were so dry and they felt like they were glued together. "And you are?"

Lips cracked as John managed to open his mouth, "this is our mate Matt, Matt this is Wanda, we met her earlier today," Matt held out a tanned hand and took Wanda's own pale one; comparing the two skin tones amusedly before he gave Wanda back her hand.

Leaning back in his chair, Matt rapped an arm around the girl sitting beside him and smirked, "ever thought of sunbathing?" the girl beside him let out a tinkling laugh but Wanda only smiled, 'get to know him; politeness girl…just give him a witty comment back.'

"Pale skin is normally associated with Goths, it gives them their trademark 'creepy' look, tans just make someone look…like their trying too hard," she smirked and both John and Remy let out laughs, although so did Matt which was a good sign.

"So do you not think Goth's can look Gothic with a tan? Coz I think I look pretty Gothic like this, and I'd have to if I wanted to fit in with this club," he laughed and took a sip of his drink, "and I'd know all about the club, my step-father being the owner and all." another laugh escaped his lips but it was colder and his eyes seemed to flash with anger.

Pretending to be surprised and ignoring the anger, Wanda leant forward, "your step-father? _The_ Mr Dyne is your step-father!"

"That's the one, although my name's not Dyne, but that's still the one; he married my mother, I never really approved of it."

"Blimey, well I certainly know who to make friends with if I ever want to get into a club around here," Wanda laughed and the rest of the group joined in but one was forced and Wanda could tell. The answer was clear when her gaze turned to John who was watching her like a hawk, how could he not? The interaction between them earlier hadn't been verbal, they'd just stared at each other but he felt the spark and that's what intrigued him, that's what intrigued them both.

Wanda sat watching him as he stared at her before he finally broke the silence between them, "wanna dance?" Wanda smirked and held out her hand, watching curiously as John stood and took it, leading her to the dance floor. They reached it and started to twist their way through, both gripping onto each other tightly to not only prove that they didn't want anyone to dance with because they already had a partner, but also to make sure they didn't lose each other.

Once they had found a gap in the dance floor that seemed suitable John twirled Wanda into his side and he interlocked their fingers, looking deeply into her eyes as she swayed with him, their bodies pressed close together with her chest pressed into his, their eyes locked in an intense gaze. But then John released one hand and lifted the interlocked one, twirling Wanda so her back was pressed onto him, her ass rubbing sneakily against his crotch and as John gasped Wanda looked up at him with an innocent gaze. Bringing her head down to rest against his neck she pressed her back even closer to him, lifting both hands to rap around John's neck as the Aussie placed a gentle grip on her hips. They got comfortable and Wanda brought her hands down to lay them on John's, interlocking their fingers together again before they both began to sing along to the song.

Wanda** - **"**Open up ya mouth, ya grill gleaming **

**Eyes stay low from da cheifin**"

John – "**I got a grill I call penny candy you know what that means,  
It look like Now n Laters, gum drops, jelly beans  
I wouldn't leave it for nothin only a crazy man would  
So if you catch me in ya city, somewhere out in ya hood just say**"**  
**

W –"**Smile fo me daddy**"  
J – "**What you lookin at**"**  
**W –"**Let me see ya grill**"**  
**J –"**Let you see my what**"**  
**W –"**Ya, ya grill ya, ya, ya grill**"**  
**J –"**Rob da jewellery store and tell 'em make me a grill**"**  
**W –"**Smile fo me daddy**"**  
**J –"**What you lookin at**"**  
**W –"**I want to see your grill**"**  
**J –"**You wanna see my what**"**  
**W –"**Ya, ya grill ya, ya, ya grill**"**  
**J –"**Had a whole top diamonds and da bottom Row's gold**"

"This is the most ridiculous song ever," Wanda laughed as she danced against John but still carried on singing.

His gaze had turned to her as Wanda spoke, watching as she danced against him, "you seem to be enjoying it though Sheila," she laughed again and the noise rang through his ears pleasantly.

"Its not like I can go up there and ask him to change it or anything."

John's gaze was straight and he watched her closely as she laughed, "you seemed quite comfortable up there with him earlier," he turned his eyes to look around, but John still felt Wanda's gaze land on him and he turned back to face her curious expression.

She was shocked at the fact he'd actually admitted he had been watching her but she decided against pressing the matter and spoke again with a laugh, "I was bored enough so I felt I might as well have some fun."

"You must have been damned bored then," they both laughed together and John watched her with a fire burning in his eyes before he made a quick decision his hands travelled slowly from Wanda's hips as they swayed together, up to her face and John placed one hand behind Wanda's head, snaking it into her hair as he used the other hand to pull her face closer to his.

He only needed to use a single finger placed on Wanda's chin to lead her lips to his own and they crashed together, kissing each other intensely but John wasn't satisfied. He bit Wanda's lip lightly and she gasped, allowing his tongue to sneak in and it rubbed against her own, their tongues rubbing and entwining as their kiss became heated. Wanda moaned against John's mouth causing a vibration to erupt in their mouths, and Wanda started to run her hands teasingly up John's chest in need for deeper contact, feeling the tense muscles in his stomach and chest. She left them on his upper chest and leant further into John, literally allowing herself to collapse into his body whilst he rapped both hands around her waist tightly. They had no idea how long the kiss lasted, they were brought into a world of their own as fireworks erupted in both their minds, sparks flying in all directions. But then the kiss ended when Wanda pulled apart for breath, John leaning to give her a short kiss on the lips as they both stood together, gazing into each others eyes with a satisfied desire, getting their breath back; both of them left utterly breathless.

By now the song had changed and, as they came back to reality, so did Wanda's dancing, she pressed her chest further into John, both staring into each others eyes with such desire as they began to sing together again, swaying slowly

W -** You got, you got, you got  
what it takes to make me leave my man**

Wanda ran a finger along John's lip as she sang, tracing them lightly and as John began to sing he copied the motion**  
**  
J -** It's hard to control myself  
It's hard to control myself  
You got, you got, you got  
What it takes to make this boy be bad **

**  
**W -** It's hard for me to control myself **

**and to hold myself back from jumpin' on ya  
like I wanna, like I wanna, wanna**

John lifted Wanda's leg and rapped it around his waist, pressing his crotch into hers and she let out a moan before he dropped her leg and pulled Wanda back towards him, placing both hands on her ass and pushing her body into his

J -** Temptation is a mother  
How we lust for one another  
We barely know each other  
Yet we're waddling like we're lovers  
The air is full of passion  
The strobe lights are flashing**

The lights in the club flashed as the music bounced around the club causing people to cheer

**The hustlers throw cashin'  
The bartender keeps splashin'  
Her moves were so erotic  
Her gaze was so hypnotic  
I begged this girl to stop it  
But she continued to pop it **

You know I know you like it  
Let me hit you on your Sidekick  
Because the after party is at my body  
Meet me you're invited

W - **You got, you got, you got  
what it takes to make me leave my man **

J - **It's hard to control myself  
It's hard to control myself  
You got, you got, you got  
What it takes to make this boy be bad **

It's hard to control myself  
It's hard to control myself

W - **It's hard for me to control myself **

**and to hold myself back from jumpin' on ya  
like I wanna, like I wanna, wanna**

J -** She licked, off, her lip, gloss**

Wanda licked her lips seductively at John and laughed as his mouth fell open, but she simply used a single finger to close it before she turned to press her back against his again

**Her hips, tossed, back, and forth  
Side, to side, and up, and down**

Her hips did as John said and he watched them as if mesmerised

**She touched, the ground, it turned, me out**

Wanda bent over, running a finger over the ground as she pressed her ass into John's crotch and he gripped her hips tighter when she lifted up, feeling as she rubbed into him further

**I'm battling desire  
Lord help me douse this fire  
This internal inferno  
Hotter than a shot of Cuervo  
Her top was short and purple  
Belly dancing in a circle**

Wanda let go of John and lifted her arms above her head, belly-dancing before she ran a hand along her body, beckoning to John with a single finger and he complied, walking to her, grabbing her hips and pulling her back to him. Wanda rubbed her back against his chest erotically and John growled seductively, making her laugh

**When I feel like this I can't resist  
Stop it don't make me hurt you**

The next words were sung but not from John or Wanda, but from some people next to them and both Wanda and John turned to face Remy and Matt who were now dancing next to them with some girls they must have picked up. The group danced for a while until the song ended and Wanda watched as Matt let go of the girl he was dancing with.

"Nice dancing with you babes, I'll call ya," he kissed the chick on the lips and she disappeared but not before he had, back through the crowds, no doubt heading to the table.

"Well, Remy tink he be going back now, make sure he doesn't decide t' leave us again," Remy looked at John with a raised eyebrow and a hidden message passed between them.

Wanda watched the exchange and smirked, her time had come and this better work, "I think I'm gonna go back coz I'm a bit tired so why don't I watch him for you" She took in John's disappointed expression and her heart ached but she had to be strong, it was just at that time that a solution appeared.

A girl departed from the crowds spotting a free agent and attached herself to John, Wanda watched this and a fire seemed to erupt in her stomach that she realised was jealousy…but in moments she made it leave her alone and she smiled, "have fun." Wanda turned from the guys with a smile and a wave, not taking her eyes off of John until people separated them.

She appeared moments later on the other side of the crowds, looking around desperately, 'he can't of left…I mean, I wouldn't of been surprised; those two must be the guys making sure he doesn't run off again.' Wanda looked again and then her gaze landed on a lone figure sat where the guys had been earlier, and she recognised it as Matt. Her footsteps were quick as she headed for him but she was beat to it as a girl slid next to him, that was until Wanda appeared next to the seat.

"Move it red, he's taken," the girl looked shocked but released Matt's arm and jumped up, no doubt because of the murderous glint in Wanda's eye. "Sorry about that, just wanted a time to chat with you; get to know you."

"I'm used to it girl," Matt lit up a cigarette and rapped the arm around Wanda's shoulders, but she simply took it from his hand and took a drag, "hey!"

"What? You were offering," she laughed and then turned back to Matthew, "so where's your wife?"

Matt frowned at Wanda, "what?" but then he followed her nod to his finger and fiddled with the ring, "oh; you saw that," he laughed and then turned to her, "you married?" a shake of her head was all necessary but Matt noticed the look that showed she really didn't care about it, "five years now…got married when she was 18 and when I was 19; I'm 24 now." Another smile, but this time to himself, "she was the perfect girl…my dream woman, she was going clubbing with me but she was ill so she's staying at a hotel not far from here. Her name's Xi'an Coy Manh, she didn't change it when we married, her first name is pronounced Shan but spelt X-I-'-a-n, but I just call her by her nickname; Karma, everyone does. I can tell you two would get on well; she was a prep and cheerleader back when we were young, but she's changed now mainly because she saw the world from my point of view as well as her own…" he paused as he thought something over and then looked at Wanda seriously. "you don't have a problem with mutants do ya?"

"Why would a mutant have a problem with her own kind?" Wanda smirked as Matt's eyes widened.

"Your one! Me too," he laughed for no particular reason and took a drag of his cigarette, "well…it was after she had a bit of a problem with her powers; no one else knew what was happening and they had no idea it was mutancy but, well with her powers she takes over a persons mind and body. She did it by accident and no one had a clue what was going on apart from me, I knew the moment her eyes misted over…they just shone with this white light," Matt bit his lip as he remembered and turned to Wanda, "it was so scary and she was terrified but I helped her, she even thought about her name with my help; Karma. We started dating a week after and it just all coasted from there, what are your powers like?"

"I call myself the Scarlet Witch, because I love the colour red and my powers are hexing powers; I can turn anything and everything against my opponents in my favour you know; someone uses their powers against me then I turn them straight back around and use their powers against them." Wanda smirked and took another drag, "beat that."

Matt simply looked uninterested, to my father and everyone who thinks they know me I'm Matthew Dyne. To my mother and my darling wife…I'm Sebastian Shaw; Black King of the Hellfire Club, I am able to take any force you throw at me no matter how big or small and I am able to throw it straight back at you with twice as much force." He took a puff of his cigarette and looked at Wanda through the smoke, "good enough?"

She smirked and Sebastian laughed, before his eyes widened as he thought of a brilliant idea, "say, we've talked about her…so why don't you come and meet my wife, I'm sure she'd love to meet you. She was always the sociable type and to meet someone new would be wonderful for her; she'd forget about the illness in no time and you two would become such great friends."

Wanda pretended again to be surprised, "I'd love to," she smiled but smirked behind Matt's back as he stood up.

"We'll have to go out the back way, otherwise they'll see me leaving; John and Remy I mean, they're great blokes and all…but I can't stand having people watch over me because of my father." Matt turned to Wanda with an smile that clearly questioned her understanding and she nodded before he directed her out of the club to his car.

VvVvVvV

"Karma, are you awake hunny?" Matthew entered Karma's room but saw no one there, "Karma?" appearing at the door with a letter in hand Wanda held it out, "Matt, this is for you."

Dear Sebastian,

I'm sorry I'm not here darling, the illness got a bit much for me this afternoon and we had to call a doctor; he suggested I went home, so don't worry I'm completely safe. By the time you've got this letter I will have got home and a maid will have left a message on the answer phone ok darling. 

I hope you had fun and that you made friends with Remy and John, they sounded delightful and I hope to meet them sometime.

Love you darling, 

Love Karma xxx

Matt passed the letter to Wanda who read it, "she's wonderful isn't she," it was more of a statement but Wanda nodded anyway and turned to look around the hotel suite. "Would you like a drink?"

"Water please," Wanda smiled at Matt and followed him to the kitchen as he got her a glass of water and one for himself. It was then that Wanda put her plan into action, before Matt had a chance to touch his glass she had pointed out of the window, "what a view!" Matt came to stand next to Wanda and smiled, not noticing as she slipped away to the cabinet…it all happened so quickly: one minute she had passed him the drink; the next he was collapsing on the floor…he never noticed the pill that was bubbling away as he drank.

Wanda laughed delightedly and used her powers to lift Matt onto a sofa in the living room next door, then she proceeded to the phone and in moments was connected and speaking to Mr Dyne. "Hello Mr Dyne, you don't know who I am and I won't tell you, all I will tell you is that your son is here in his hotel suite, **alone**, with me, a gun pointed directly at his head and a clock counting down five minutes for me: that is how long you have till I shoot; that is how long you have to get here."

"What? How the hell- "

"Five minutes and counting…well, four and a half now."

"I'm on my way, just don't hurt him!"

Oh I won't, as long as you come **alone**, and when you enter the room do not do anything to surprise me; I'd hate to have to do anything irrational…" the click of a gun was heard and Wanda swore she heard Mr Dyne jump on the other line.

"I'm on my way!" the phone line went dead and Wanda looked at it with a perked eyebrow, 'rude; the bastard hung up on me…that's **my** job!'

VvVvVvV

Wanda stared at the door as she waited; four minutes had passed since her phone call and Mr Dyne should of arrived by now, and just as she was about to phone him again the door burst open as Mr Dyne rushed in; a gun now pointed straight at his face. "Didn't I tell you not to surprise me?" Wanda smirked at Mr Dyne's horrified expression and gestured with the gun for him to take a seat, yet her smirk changing to a scowl as she was ignored. Mr Dyne stood over Sebastian and put a finger to his neck to feel for a pulse, yet he jumped up as a shot fired and a bullet flashed through the air next to his head, "I would advise you to take a seat." Wanda tilted her head at Mr Dyne and smirked as he sat quickly on a sofa, still staring worriedly down at his son.

"But…but Xavier told me…he said they'd keep him safe," Mr Dyne stared worriedly at his son Sebastian as he let out a small moan in his unconscious state.

Wanda smirked and leaned back in her armchair, letting slip a cold laugh that echoed throughout the room, "oh yes, well Xavier never thought properly about who he was dealing with, he didn't even know who it was that was putting you and your son in such danger. He knows _of_ us, yes, but he doesn't know _about_ us, does he now? He didn't even know about me did he?" Wanda laughed again and gazed down at Sebastian as he began to stir, "of course it won't matter to Xavier anymore after this; you can't blame him for this because it won't be possible." Wanda smirked at Mr Dyne's confused expression and then watched as Sebastian slowly opened his eyes and laid them on her, "good to see you awake Sebastian, I was hoping you'd wake up in time for my explanation," she gestured to the sofa on which sat Sebastian's step-father, "please, do take a seat."

Sebastian got up but took one look at the sofa and scowled, standing where he was, "like I'd sit next to him; this is all his fault!" he turned away from his step-father and sat in one of the armchairs littering the room.

Wanda smirked but then her expression turned serious as she started her explanation, the only hint that she was finding this all humouring being the twinkle in her eyes, "you see Mr Dyne, all your life you have feared for your son; worried that he would be murdered at any point in his life for the things you have done, for the enemies you have acquired. Yet what you truly don't understand is the fact that Sebastian has nothing to do with your life; he means absolutely nothing to our company and his death would only be a waste of time, weapons and assassins. The only reason he is here now is because from the moment I met him I pitied him; encased by his father's worries and trapped between a life he deeply desires and a life controlled utterly by his father, yet he doesn't care for the latter; he despises you and cares nothing for you, for Christ's sake you don't know anything about him…you don't even know his real name, all he wants is the former; a life away from all the problems you give him. The only way to rid Sebastian of the problems is to rid him of the cause; your annihilation gives him back his life and all he wants with it, yet not only will it benefit him, it will benefit me in performing my job correctly and also benefit numerous companies who want you dead and gone." Wanda stood from her chair and faced Mr Dyne who sat shaking in the sofa, "so without further ado…"

"Wait." Sebastian's voice made Wanda pause in her footsteps and she turned to face him, fury etched in her expression; 'never prevent a predator from having their prey you stupid fool,' yet as Wanda made eye-contact with him her fury softened slightly, "I just wanted to say a few last words." Sebastian moved in front of Wanda and faced his father who gave him a pleading expression that Sebastian ignored, "I hate you and I told you right from the start that I would make you pay for ever getting involved in my mother's life and mine, but it looks like I wont have to bother at all, which suits me just fine."

Sebastian turned from his father and walked to the door, turning to Wanda as he placed his hand on the door handle, "thank you for this; you have given me back my life, and all I can give you in return is a single message; have fun… in fact, actually I can give you more; if you ever need me for anything whether its just for a friend or for my powers then just call me, me and my wife, Xi'an, will be there for you." Sebastian gave Wanda his number, imitated her smirk and left the room, never turning back to look at his father, knowing that he would never have to see him again.

The Scarlet Witch let out a cold laugh as Mr Dyne shrunk as far back into the sofa as possible, "oh I will," she advanced on Mr Dyne and as soon as she took a step her hands began to glow. The Scarlet Witch lifted her hands up and as she did the glow encased Mr Dyne, lifting him with them and with a smirk she began to clench her fists, her laughter drowned by Mr Dyne's screams of pain as the glow contracted on him, crushing him slowly and mercilessly.

Then the Scarlet Witch began to open her hands; the palms facing Mr Dyne as he was released, yet as soon as he began to get comfortable her fists clenched again and his cries racked the room, echoing through the Scarlet Witch's ears as once again she unclenched her fists. But as soon as Mr Dyne was released from the crushing pain the Scarlet Witch made a swiping move with a single hand and his body was thrown into a bookcase that gave way with the force and fell down, crushing Edmund beneath it. The Scarlet Witch laughed and lifted the bookcase with her powers, kneeling down to look at her victim as he writhed in pain, moaning as he tried to get his breath back; the blood pouring from a book that had penetrated his chest. She smirked and stood up, releasing the bookcase from her powers and laughing as it dropped on Edmund, a crunching sound echoing through the room as the book was pushed further through his rib-cage, cracking them and penetrating his lungs and heart. Yet still the Scarlet Witch wasn't finished and she threw the bookcase off of him before she picked him up off the floor herself by the collar of his suit jacket, holding him away from herself to prevent any blood from spoiling her outfit.

"Aw, how sweet of you Mr Dyne, scarlet; my favourite colour," she laughed coldly and walked to the balcony doors, opening them up using her powers and walking out of them still holding Mr Dyne in her grip. "Why don't you show the rest of this town what a gorgeous colour it really is," to show him exactly what she meant the Scarlet Witch lifted him higher and leant on the balcony railings, grabbing hold of Mr Dyne's wrists as she dangled him teasingly over the balcony. Screams of horror mingled with Mr Dyne's, ripping through the night as blood splattered from his dying body onto the ground and the people below, but this only caused the Scarlet Witch to let out another cold laugh before releasing both wrists and watching as her victim plummeted from the 20story hotel room. He landed on the ground far below with a smacking sound, his blood pooling from his mangled body, really showing the Scarlet Witch her favourite colour indeed.

She turned from the window with a smirk and hurried from the room, pausing to pick up John's mobile phone before she left with it clutched tightly in her hand.

End of Chapter

Ok…that ending was a bit more gory then I thought it would be, but I do like it! still, it is quite gross…anyways; so yay! Wanda completed her mission successfully and I did tell you there would be lots of JONDA didn't I! I only hope you got enough! Love Thrills, xxx

Ooh, and here are some extra ages, these just are some people who would be a bit more important to tell and also I will remind you of the girls and some of them need to be older for this to work :D ;

**Wanda** - 20

**Rogue** - 20

**Kitty** - 20

**Lexa** - 20

**Lorna** - 34

**Betsy** - 32

**John** - 23

**Remy** - 25

**Piotr** - 36

**Warren** - 32

**Lance** - 20

**Pietro** - 20

**Jean** - 21

**Scott** - 20

**Kurt** - 20

**Amanda** - 19


	15. Hidden Secrets

OMG it's been ages (sorry for late updates!) but another Chapter is here! Right, as the title entails; this chapter is all about a little thing called Secrets and someone find out something they don't want to know…warning; sexual JONDA scenes! Thank me later, LOL! Also, I have thought up a name for Lady Deathstrike's Assassins group; they will be called Les Diable Noirs (meaning the Black Devils) because that's what they are! So enjoy.

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

Written letters or notes are underlined

"_Telepathic thoughts and the other line of the phone is in italics and speech marks"_

Chapter 15

VvV Hidden Secrets VvV

_Saturday 8th April, Le Diable Noir's Girl Mansion; Wanda's Balcony, 9:10am_

Wanda sat, curled up on her balcony sofa, peering out through the railings at the trees beyond; watching the wind blowing at them, twirling the leaves in a delicate dance of the elements.

Thoughts…that what raced through her mind and a sigh escaped Wanda's lips as the memories erupted something deep in her heart; something that strained and ached for more of it, not just the touching or the kissing; just to be with him…just to see him. She clutched at the phone tightly and peered down at it, admiring the bright fire decorating the black phone with another sigh, 'what should I do?' her mind told her not to get involved.

"Nevah play with love when ya have a job lahke this," Rogue's voice sprang more memories in her mind, that was a training day…they had been talking about what not to do as an Assassin and it was the first rule…

Wanda sighed and whispered the memory to herself ever so quietly, "love and assassins never go together, no matter how much you want them to; it will never work." She looked down at the phone again and watched as it slipped from her hand, it was like her temptation was leaving her as the phone left her grip but that was when everything changed. It was as if the wind had picked up because it blew about Wanda's face ferociously and she watched in slow motion as the phone fell to the ground, whilst the world about her went dark; it was just Wanda and the phone as it fell, but the more it escaped from her the darker Wanda felt inside and the darker her surroundings appeared.

A hand reached out and gripped the phone, bringing Wanda back to the light and suddenly as soon as it had picked up, the wind dropped and now only a light breeze played with her hair, as Wanda stared with wide, desperate eyes at the phone she now held in her hand. 'I don't want this; he was just another one of those guys we all liked to play with back then,' Wanda shook her head and stared at the phone. But then a voice spoke up in the back of her mind, 'you want this, you _need_ this; you need John…he isn't one of those guys, he's special, can't you tell? He's the one your looking for.' the world about her stopped as Wanda let this comment sink in, letting it ring in her ears as she pondered over it.

**BEEP! BEEP!**

Wanda jumped and stared down at the phone, clutching it tighter as the ring-tone rang out through the cold, dusky morning whilst she read the name out loud, "Remy Mobile…" she dropped the phone and let it clatter to the floor, "shit, what do I do?" the answer came to her as the ring-tone died away and as the voice spoke up again, 'ring him? arrange to meet up with him…'

She held the phone in one hand, biting her lip and trying to will away the temptation. But all too soon she was pressing away at the keypad and she found the number she was looking for in seconds…**'home'** …her thumb hovered over it but Wanda paused before something caused her thumb to press call.

VvVvVvV

_Xavier's Institute for the Gifted and Talented; Kitchen, 9:15am_

A bleeping tone rang out and John jumped at his place next to the phone, looking at the caller ID, "REMY! ITS MY PHONE!" John leapt for the receiver, shouting as he grabbed at it, "IVE GOT IT! NO ONE ANSWER THE…" John grabbed the phone and held his ear to it, "…phone…" John listened to Scott who's voice, which was formal as Cyclops spoke into the receiver he had picked up. "Hello? Xavier's Institute for the Gifted and Talented………hello?" Scott sounded puzzled as no one said anything on the other line and he hung up. The same side of the line and on a different receiver John dropped the receiver, burying his face into his arms with a howl.

"I WANT MY PHONE!"

_Back at the mansion…_

Wanda dropped the phone if it had scolded her… and she stared down at it with wide eyes, but as a sound stirred behind her door Wanda kicked the phone under the sofa, putting on a smile once Kitty walked through the door, smiling brightly as she faced Wanda, "hey girl! I'm so glad to see you, I heard you succeeded!" Wanda stood up as Kitty held her arms out for a hug, trying to erase the thought from her head… 'home…Xavier's Institute for the Gifted and Talented…but that means he lives at…and that means he…'

"Shit," Wanda spoke the word quietly enough and to her relief the birds out in the garden sang up so Kitty never even heard her.

"It's breakfast time and Betsy made a cooked one to celebrate a success, so she made me come and fetch you, I hope you don't mind me phasing through your floor do you?"

Wanda shook her head dazedly but it seemed to have a desired effect and she was brought back to the living, turning to Kitty with a realistic smile now, "na, its fine…just as long as you don't phase through my…" Wanda took in Kitty's guilty expression and sighed, "forget it."

"I totally didn't mean to, like, go through you bed; it was an accident, I mean I can't pinpoint where everything is through the floor, ya know? But its directly above the table in the dining room, so I know not to, like, climb on that again." Kitty laughed nervously but then Wanda noticed a twitch right above the girl's eye before Kitty growled as she turned towards the trees. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" with her screaming numerous birds flew out of the trees in a flurry, settling again in complete silence as Kitty sighed and then smiled happily, "well that's better, come on Wanda; breakfast time. We totally don't want to keep Betsy waiting now, do we?"

Wanda stared after Kitty with wide eyes and forgot completely about the phone, following cautiously after her friend as Kitty left the balcony, humming to herself.

VvVvVvV

_Le Diable Noir's Girl Mansion; Outside Patio, 13:00pm_

"So then I dropped him…it was as simple as that really," laughter echoed throughout the garden as the girls and their mentors ate lunch on the patio. "it was a beautiful sight you know; all that scarlet…god it was gorgeous."

Lexa wrinkled her nose slightly, "Wanda that is gross you know," shaking her head to get the image out of it, Lexa carried on, "I don't think any of us wanted to know that."

"Ah don't think so; ah think it rocks," Rogue laughed as Lexa pulled a face at the contradiction and then she turned to Wanda, "so…meet any gahs at the club?"

"Well Duh, there were, like, bound to be loads of totally hot guys," more laughter filled the patio but this time Wanda didn't join in and she instead looked up at the balconies overhanging the patio as she thought about her own balcony and the phone hidden in it. She hadn't thought about it all day, but now everything came flooding back.

Her mind went blank as the rest of her 'family,' – as they liked to class themselves: the girls were like sisters and their mentors felt just like mothers – talked and laughed. Reminiscing over the numerous men in their lives; the girls had had a lot of romance in the last years, all of them having filled out a bit, with Rogue and Wanda herself becoming much more voluptuous, and Kitty was certainly developing.

Wanda looked at the girls and smiled: Betsy had always been stick thin since she was born, and it was useful due to her modelling; Lorna however was a bit fuller on the stomach but that was simply the amount of muscle. She wasn't exactly an hour-glass shape, that was mainly because of all the muscle the woman had, but she had slight curves; Rogue was even more curved then her mentors, with a bust that grabbed attention easily and hips that swayed mesmerisingly as she walked, grabbing attention without fail. Kitty was getting fuller and growing; with a small, dainty rear, a non-existent stomach due to her small shape and of course, a small bust that was beginning to grow from an A to a B.

Wanda herself was very curved; a plump bust, hips that swayed, but not as much as Rogue's, and an ass the size of Europe; she attracted more attention then the Goth let on. However it was Lexa who was most curious; the girl had curves, with hips just as wide as Wanda, a Size B/C bust and a rather big rear. But no matter how much the clothes clung to her, Lexa's bust would always appear averagely curved, and her bum… 'the lucky devil seems like she just has an _average_ sized ass, but me, oh no; the first thing you notice me for is my bum.' If that wasn't enough for Lexa, her muscles were much more defined then any of the other girls, apart from Lorna, but that was simply due to the midnight-haired beauty's past. She was one to be envied alright for her curves; full, but not so big they were the first thing anyone ever noticed when they came up behind you.

Wanda turned as if in a stupor to Rogue as her name was called, but then she turned to Betsy realising that it was the model calling Wanda's name, "yeh?"

Betsy rolled her eyes and repeated herself as Wanda looked at her questioningly. "So the mission was ok?"

"Yeh…shit!" Suddenly grabbing her head as it began to pound, Wanda groaned loudly yet the other girls just laughed, "ow my head!"

"Look who had too much to drink," laughing, Kitty carried on taunting, "guess it caught up with you. Can't handle your drinks huh, hun?"

VvVvVvV

_Wanda's Balcony, 13:30pm_

Wanda

The phone dangled from my fingertips as I held it over the sofa, sipping a glass of water thoughtfully to myself before I began to make the biggest decision of my life and in just a second…I had made it.

VvVvVvV

_Xavier's Institute for the Gifted and Talented; Kitchen, 13:30pm_

Ringing echoed throughout the mansion as multiple phones rang, all using the same number, and in the kitchen a yell of delight rang out as someone examined the caller ID. No one heard him yell, it was just John and the phone, and with everyone else outside by the pool; it was left to him to answer, which he did.

"Hello?"

"_Hello John."_

The voice on the other side of the phone sounded knowing, as if she could see who it was that had picked up the phone, but not only that she sounded rather secretive as if she knew something he didn't. "Who is this?"

_"Don't you recognise me?"_

"…" he paused and frowned slightly, waiting for her to say more, to give her a further clue. But when none came he repeated her and racked his memory for something familiar and then an image appeared in his head; dancing with him… "Wanda…?"

"…"

Taking the silence for a yes, John continued, "how did you get my phone?"

"_You left it on the table, and I thought I might want to contact you sometime,"_ she paused again and then smirked, making her voice become sweet and charming as she giggled down the phone in a manner which was unlike herself. _"I thought the best way would be to take your phone, I mean: it gives me your number; and it gives me a reason to see you again."_

Raising his eyebrows, John smirked, "well I'm sure that could be arranged…"

VvVvVvV

_Bayville Town Centre; a park, 9:30pm_

Trouble; he knew he'd be in for it when he went back home, how could you not? Sneaking off without telling anyone apart from your partner in crime (Remy), and maybe Piotr too…and Lance…and you might of mentioned something about it to Pietro. Well you did, having mentioned that the girl in question was very much like his sister and that he would of loved to have her tongue stuck down his throat just as much as he loved hers going down that route. And how could you forget that you had told him when Pietro's arm was rapped around your neck and then the Professor was giving you a lecture and grounding you for the next week and forbidding you to go out tonight, with an extra DR session especially for yourself tonight – another two excellent reasons why this wasn't such a good idea. Not to mention the fact that it might not even of been Wanda who had suggested meeting up, and also that he'd probably be staying out way past curfew, although he had that one to blame on Remy, having placed a bet with the Cajun that he wouldn't be back until well gone midnight. At the time, John didn't think he **might** be gaining a few 100 dollars tomorrow morning, all he knew was that a woman a couple of years younger than himself was strutting up to the swings which he sat on.

She smiled as she approached the swings – although the complete opposite emotions were running through her mind – and tilted her head to the boy sat on the swings, calling out to him in a sweet, coaxing voice, "John, is that you baby?"

"Yeh, would that be Wanda by any chance?" Standing up to walk towards her, John recognised the glint of her scarlet tips, shimmering in the moonlight, being a late spring evening.

"Course it would, who else would it be?"

His heart raced as a (false) giggle swam through his ears and John reached out a hand to the girl, who took it and gave it a squeeze, "you alright luv?"

"I'm good thanks, you?"

"Yeh ta." The conversation was one that you'd have with any old friend you met, and it was strangely cold for the two of them as if she was holding back from him. "So, pleasant night huh? Apart from the cold of course."

"Mmm…" she was definitely holding back and Wanda knew it, because she was making herself: she was just begging him to ask what was wrong; she just wanted to yell at him, to hurt him for keeping the secrets from her, although to him there wasn't anything to reveal. She was just another girl to him and that truly hurt; Wanda wondered to herself as they stood opposite each other, one hand clasped in his, about how many girls he'd been with since she'd disappeared. He must of thought her dead…well, all of her old companions and the X-men did: Lady Deathstrike made sure of that for them all, so he mustn't feel any regrets at all. Her forehead creased into a frown and she looked to the ground, he didn't care, why would he care for a 'dead' girl?"

"Whats up luv?"

His free hand made its way to her chin and John cupped it lightly as he stared into those sparkling sapphires: she just wanted to pull away and scream at him, to release all of this pain and target it back at him. Her mind was a tortured mess with all this emotion locked up inside of it, and she just closed her eyes from him with a wistful sigh – she couldn't do any of it, being so close to him, to the John that she had loved for so many years now, ever since they had met. It was too hard. Opening her eyes to look up at him, Wanda smiled, "nothing John, I'm just happy to see you again…" 'after all these years…'

VvVvVvV

_9:50pm_

They sat on the swings and just chatted to each other, but it was difficult and often there would be nothing to say: neither could reveal anything towards each other and they simply sat in silence until Wanda broke the silence with – what would become – fatal words. "So how's Seba…how's Matthew?"

John's whole mood changed with that single name, "I wouldn't know thanks to you," he sent Wanda a dark look, but she couldn't find it in her to respond; she never knew he would act this way to her.

Turning back to stare up at the sky, John sighed, "he's gone; him and his wife took off after his father died, murdered by some heartless little S.O.B." John pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and pulled out a lighter, manipulating the flame to jump up to his cigarette, but making it look like it was created to do that. "He took you back to his hotel suite didn't he? To meet his wife Karma…" not waiting for a response, he continued, "she always wanted to meet people and he loved her to do so, so he wanted me and Remy to meet her too, but we couldn't. He _had_ to stay _at the club_," he turned to Wanda as he spoke and scowled, "we were supposed to take care of him; me and Remy, make sure he didn't up and leave so he wouldn't get in trouble. His father is wanted around these parts and Matt was a gateway to him, so when you led him out of the club you made him open to anything, to anyone. And some little S.O.B took advantage: took him hostage and got his dad, that's all we know," he turned back to the sky as he took a puff and watched the cloud rising upwards. "Dead as a vampire with a steak in his heart; dropped from the 20story hotel suite. There was nothing we could do, but of course…you'd know all about your own work, wouldn't you…Scarlet Witch."

Wanda stood up off of the swing and stared down at John with surprise "what the-"

"Don't try and hide it, I can tell it's you: I was talking to your brother about all the similarities you had with Scarlet, and then it hit me as I heard you on the phone. That voice was the one you used against your father: how could I forget the coldness in it?"

"Yeh, well you might wanna think twice before you go all hypocritical, _Pyro_," his shock caused her to laugh coldly, and she held out the phone and chucked it to him; watching as John looked down at the name on the screen:** Home**. "Yeh, that's right: home…home as in _Xavier's Institute for the Gifted and Talented_," she imitated Scott's voice to a T and laughed again, "so you and those losers finally joined up with the X-geeks? Your pathetic; couldn't take life on your own?"

John stood up to face her and glared, his voice rising, "at least we didn't leave!"

"My life now is so much better than that shit hole!"

"Well I'm so sorry that you caused so much _misery_ to all of us when you left. You abandoned your _twin_, left him miserable and alone, and you left ME, you broke my heart Wanda cuz that's just the fucked up bitch that you are!"

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE A HEART! YOU NEVER SHOWED THAT YOU CARED FOR ME AT ALL!"

"I FUCKING LOVED YOU AND I STILL DO!"

"…" shocked…stunned, she couldn't respond and she felt herself shrinking in his glare before she whispered to him, looking to her feet so as not to let her eyes betray her, "well I don't care."

"Say it to my face!"

So she looked up at him, with tears sparkling in the ocean which was her eyes, "I can't care…" her voice was breaking with sobs but she controlled herself, "assassins don't love, it's not part of the job and it's not allowed."

"But you do."

"I _can't_!"

"That doesn't matter: love isn't something you control, it happens luv…shit happens, but trust me, this ain't shit," John tilted Wanda's chin so she was looking up at him and brushed her lips with his finger gently before he clasped them to his own lips.

John grazed Wanda's lips with his tongue, begging for entrance but all too soon she pulled away and pushed him from her. "You don't know ANYTHING about me! Don't talk about what you don't know!" her voice was rising and Wanda backed away from John, "DON'T FILL MY HEAD WITH YOUR _SHIT_! I DON'T CARE BECAUSE I _CAN'T_ AND YOU CAN'T FUCKING CHANGE THAT!" She ignored as the swing set behind her flashed blue and was thrust from the ground, and didn't even duck as it flew over her head at John, who clicked his lighter and threw a flameball up at it, melting the metal into practically nothing. But he wasn't quick enough to dodge the slide as it snapped off the climbing frame and flew into his stomach, propelling him into a tree.

John pulled against the slide and tried to push it off, but it rapped around his stomach and the tree tightly, tying him in place, and then to his horror, John's lighter flew from his pocket and levitated in front of Wanda who crushed it with a single wink of her eye. John yelled miserably and watched as Wanda neared him, fear shining in his childishly big eyes: no defence and no weapons, he was stuck for sure. She just laughed, without a care in the world and strolled casually over to him, "_never_ mess with me. and don't even _think_ about messing with any of us girls any more: we're not what we were; we've trained; we've practised. We've _evolved_ John. We're not the girls that you once knew, because that innocence doesn't belong to any of us, and it never did, not even to Kitty. You should see her, she's so changed and she finally sees the light in this world, all of those shitty lines in those movies you see…they're right: it's not about good and evil, it's about _power_. We have power, and you all just held us back.

"We never held you back we-"

"You what?" Wanda smirked, "you tried to help us? You held us back; with Le Diable Noirs, we're everything we could be and nothing you once knew us to be because with maturity comes change and development. Us four girls have developed into fighting machines that you lot never thought that we could be: you don't know a thing about us so don't pretend you do. Two years now…that's how long its been and nothing's the same anymore." Suddenly Wanda's expression changed and as she frowned the slide dropped off of John, freeing him, "I'm not the Wanda you knew. Sure I'm the Scarlet Witch, but even she's evolved and she'll never be the girl you loved…you don't love me: your in love with my memory."

Pity flashed through John's eyes as Wanda walked away from him, and he should of let her go; he really knew that he should of just accepted the truth in her words and left her to live her new life, but some people can never accept things that hurt and John was one of them. That's why Wanda felt a hand entwine in her fingers, and as she looked down at their hands together he gave hers a light, reassuring squeeze.

"Then let me love you now, give me a chance luv and let me in."

"I ca-"

John sighed and pulled Wanda's back to his chest, rapping his arms around her waist and entwining both hands, "you can Wanda: let me in." Words were whispered softly into his ear and hands rubbed her own gently before she turned her head, leaning it onto his shoulder as she closed her eyes and let him close in, let him enter her heart…although, in truth she already knew he had.

His lips brushed softly against hers, theirs lips meeting in an unsure yet wanted kiss, and as she turned to face him, John rapped his arms around her back to pull her closer; this time he was the one that wanted more contact, he felt like he needed it and John pulled Wanda's arms around his neck as he replaced his around Wanda's waist. She moaned as his arms rubbed along her back softly but firmly, pressing into her to push her right up close, his tongue rubbing against hers lightly. Wanda was running her hands through his soft hair, feeling it brushing against her fingertips with such a course softness, and then she was leaning into him as he pulled her closer still, collapsing once again into that firm chest of his, feeling it tense under the pressure of her body. He released her mouth from his own and bit against her jaw bone, gaining such an intense pleasure from the short, sharp gasps that escaped from her lips as he trailed bites down her neck, sinking his teeth into a spot just beneath her collar bone, putting such pressure into the lovebite that it caused Wanda to moan loudly. Grasping his hair as John bit further into the skin, Wanda bit her lip to prevent the moans from being emitted and instead she pulled harder on his hair, letting a gasp escape as John bit harder down onto the skin while she grasped more hair, tightly. Pleasure mingled with pain as John pulled back to clutch at Wanda's chin, to pull her fiercely into a tight embrace as his lips bruised against hers, the kiss devouring the feeling of want and ever increasing their needs.

"I want you," Wanda's voice was raspy and breathless as she clutched at John, smiling as John kissed her lips repeatedly, pulling her in for a short, but longer kiss and then pulled Wanda away to admire her dishevelled form. She looked so god damn sexy, with her hair flung about her face and sticking to it with sweat that was clinging to her due to the heat of their bodies so close. He admired those fading red marks where his teeth had captured her skin and then the glowing bruise that marked his lovebite, causing it to stand out against her pale skin, the skin that he stroked in a caressive manner before he swung a hand underneath her knees and her mid-back. Bridal style was the way that John held her, and Wanda giggled as she was swung into his arms, having not suspected it, and before she knew it John was carrying her across the park to his bike, throwing her the only helmet he had before both had straddled the bike, Wanda clasping her arms tightly around his waist as John revved up the bike and kicked the stand up.

VvVvVvV

_Bayville Town; a hotel, 10:35pm_

They'd practically ran from where John parked the bike, parking at the first hotel they had reached; John lugging Wanda behind him as he desperately ran to the reception getting a room in a hurry and then dragging Wanda to the lift. It really was her fault: rubbing her hand very close to a certain area, really…it just made him hard to think of it, and then when she trailed a finger innocently over his crotch: he couldn't contain himself. As doors to the lift pulled shut in front of them, John pulled Wanda's back to his chest, kissing the side of her face and down her neck as she ran her hands up his thighs, turning to him to rap her arms around his neck; kissing his parted lips lightly. But as she drew back he leant forward quickly and claimed her lips again, pulling her chest against his and beginning to undo the buttons of her shirt with a single hand as the other firmly clasped her rear, squeezing it tightly.

The lift ride seemed to be lasting forever and John took advantage, pushing Wanda into the corner and lifting her onto the bars as he pressed himself against her, pushing so hard that another moan escaped her lips. Wanda leant against the lift walls and stared down at John from where she was sat, smiling faintly and tiredly at his expression, watching as his closed eyes fluttered open to meet hers, and then she spoke for the first time ever since they had entered the lift. "Your not too tired are you?" she smiled as John shook his head vigorously, "good…coz I want this to mean something, I want it to be different from everyone else." Wanda turned to look at the lift doors as she ran her hands through John's hair, sighing wistfully, "it's not my first…but with you; I want it to feel like it is, I don't want it to be fast and over and done with. I just want it to be…"

"Special?"

The doors rattled open as John spoke and he pulled Wanda from the bars into his arms, carrying her past the people queuing for the lift and ignoring their looks of surprise: it was just John and Wanda now, and no one else, this would mean something to her. He would make sure of it because he wanted it to mean something to him too.

VvVvVvV

_11:00pm_

Heavy breathing came from the bed, as the couple stared into each others eyes. Wanda clung to John's shirt as he knelt above her, leaning down on his hands as he regained his breath, letting out a groan for no reason as he bent his head back and closed his eyes. "Oh god I'm so tired…you've worn me out already!" Wanda giggled, trying to ignore the heat rising up her cheeks as they coloured. She laughed again as John hit the pillow with one hand frustratedly and almost collapsed on top of her, "shit; I want this so bad but I don't know I can go on…"

"Well," amusement glinted in Wanda's eyes, "we could always do this another time?" she turned innocently from him with a fake shrug as twirled her hair through her fingers, acting as though it wouldn't bother her at all. but 'another time' didn't seem to be good enough for John and he pulled Wanda's chin so she was facing him before he clasped his mouth over hers, hungrily and in such a demanding manner, 'blimey…he wants it bad.'

The frustration was soon getting to the both of them as they embraced each other in yet more kisses; raking the others body with such a frenzy that she would always part to let out a moan. Or he would part to simply clench his teeth to prevent a yell escaping from within, loving the pain that throbbed through his aching body as Wanda scraped John's skin viciously with her nails; knowing how wrong this was, but how good it felt.

Passion flitted between them; and lust was the overwhelming feeling they both desired, and as Wanda straddled John's hips she stared longingly down at him. The Goth's actions were slow and unsteady, her hands shook slightly as she undid button after button and as she made to remove her top, John sat up; catching Wanda as she fell backwards and pulling her back up as she stared at him unsurely.

"John?"

He only placed a finger over Wanda's lips before he slowly removed one sleeve and then the other, until her chest was finally bare in front of him; the pale skin revealed as John's eyes stayed fixated on the flesh that he suddenly trailed a finger over, lightly. Shudders were sent down Wanda's spine, lightly coursing over her as John stroked the revealed flesh, running hands over the bare chest and stomach revealed to him. "Your so beautiful," kisses were placed on the skin between words, "your so much more than I could ever of imagined…"

Surprise caused Wanda to jump slightly as John nipped at the skin, placing a kiss onto every red mark he made, and whilst he trailed kisses down Wanda's navel, John began to lower her so that his dream was lying down on the bed before him; watching as John leant over her. The kissing continued, and as Wanda arched her back – feeling the light touch of John's tongue tracing up her body – John slowly began to remove one strap of Wanda's bra, and then the other: peeling them down her skin with a delicate touch. She lay back onto the silk covers and gazed curiously up at John as he brushed a hand over her shoulders and then gazed into her eyes. "Luv?"

It was all they needed, and Wanda arched her back for him: allowing the clip to be unfastened; revealing more than John dreamed he would ever see. Wanda felt beautiful as she watched her lover taking in her body, and so alive; when John reached out to cup a breast in his hand it caused Wanda to arch her back into his gentle touch, her breathing becoming shallow and heavy.

But then John just stopped and he simply leant there, breathing heavily as he stared at Wanda; thinking things over in his mind as he turned to gaze up into her shining, expectant sapphires; emotions changing rapidly as Wanda's own emotions swelled, causing her eyes to magnify in intensity and in such a beauty that it was all John could do to stop himself from doing this. Next moment he had released her from his clutches and was sitting up on the bed, placing his head in his hands as he shook it back and forth; John's confusion was so immense that it captivated him in his own words; 'traitor…failure…' the words rang like a chorus and it was all that John could do to hold back the tears. His internal struggle was causing John such a fight with the rights and wrongs of his life. He could only look up as Wanda took his hands from his face as she knelt in front of the bed, directly opposite him.

"John?" whispers fluttered so delicately from her mouth, with such a sorrow in the tone of the words and such a confusion mingled in between, "whats wrong?"

He couldn't speak, if he spoke he knew he'd catch the words in his mouth and choke on them; the tears would surely fall.

Forceful was the tone Wanda used now, although the whispers were as hushed as before, "tell me what's wrong John. Tell me."

"I can't do this…"

he choked, a single tear fell and slowly ran down his face, brushed so delicately away by Wanda, "don't cry: please don't cry."

Standing, John could only capture Wanda's eyes in a single glance before he turned from her, "I don't know if this is right, I don't want to do this."

"Kiss me and tell me that." Bringing John's mouth to her own, Wanda shared a brief, momentary kiss and then she released him, staring so deeply into his eyes; eyes that burned with an intensity of desire.

He knew it was wrong…but in some ways it was right. He shouldn't be doing this…

And his choice was _final_.

End of Chapter

Ooh! How could I leave it there! Did John and Wanda do things they shouldn't of? Or did they follow the rules their lives are made up of? What do you think, and what did you think of this chapter? It turned out a lot better than I had planned and I am extremely proud of this; I think it was worth the wait…do you; I hope so and I'm sorry for the delay. But there it was: chapter 15…and hopefully I'll have some reviews to back it up as well as some views on John's decision. I'm not sure…should he have gone for love or law? .x.Thrills.x.


	16. Sexual Tension

Well…so I had loads of fabby reviews! And I so enjoyed them! Thank you to every single person who gave me their opinion on last chapter and which I should choose, love or law? The status so far:

Love: 6 Law: 3

Loves winning but only by a few! That interests me; but I suppose people want law to add friction and others want love…for some lovin' really, LOL! So do I… but that's not the point; what the point is, is that I have made up my mind: I knew what I wanted from the start but it was just so interesting to see people's views and how they wanted this to go. And I also wanted reassurance that I was making the right choice: so here it is ladies and gentlemen…love or law? I have chosen:

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

What? You think I'll tell you just like that! No way people; you MUST read on and you'll find your answer there; hehehe! I'm cruel. LOL!

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

Written letters or notes are underlined

_"Telepathic thoughts and the other line of the phone is in Italics and speech marks _"

Chapter 16

VvV Sexual Tension VvV

_Sunday 9th April, Bayville Town; a hotel, 2:00am_

"Just lift his head slowly, you can do this…" the whispering was so soft and gentle, it couldn't be overheard by his moaning and occasional snores. A head was pushed ever so softly off of some hair, only to roll straight back after the hair had been removed, however the only acknowledgement of movement was made by slight snorts, causing a giggle to escape from lips that were soon clamped tightly together. Hushed were the movements as the figure crept around the room, picking up items and delicately applying them, noticing how the more she wanted to be quiet, the louder her actions seemed.

"God…that was…weird?" more whispers were more to herself to anyone else, but he seemed to respond as he moaned. She held back another burst of giggles and let out a snort – by mistake – instead, "obviously."

Passion.

The word rang about her head, and it was so desirable that she just wanted to stay with him: stay here until he had woke; to wait a while longer; to watch him as he slept peacefully, apart from the strange, occasional noises.

Everything was telling her to stay, but she just couldn't do this to herself: admit that she was in love with him…it wasn't possible to let herself be entwined further into this disaster. Just look at what her heart had led her to this far. By tempting him in her, she had just tempted him in evil, how could she just accept that? Walking out was the only possible option, so she took it unwillingly, walking out of the door backward to watch his chest rise up and down, up and down. Dreaming of how she longed to lean her head on it; just to listen to his heart beating, to be truly certain of the fact that this **was** real. And as she walked out of the door and closed it softly behind her with a light clunk, she knew her night with John was more real than Wanda had ever dreamt it could be.

_Back in the Hotel Room_

He shot up as the door clicked lightly, looking around and – ignoring the fact he was completely naked – pushed the covers off, running to his phone.

_Xavier's Institute for the Gifted and Talented; a Boy's Dorm, 4:05am_

**Beep! Beep!**

"Merde!" with its owner almost falling out of bed as he snatched it up – the phone was curiously glared at, and a few minutes later the demonic eyes had opened enough for them to be able to read who was phoning him at this time, and the call was answered. "Oui?"

"_It's John, Remy. Get to _Iris Hotel_ **now**; they're alive! Wanda, Rogue and Kitty and that other girl Lexa: they're alive mate!"_

This time he really did fall out of bed.

VvVvVvV

_Le Diable Noir's Girl Mansion; Entrance Hall, 2:00am_

Rogue

The front door to the mansion pushed open and a high-pitched squeak echoed through the entrance hall. The door stopped opening and stayed as it was: once again the whole house was silent. Then, the door began to open again and as no sound was made, someone creeped into the entrance hall. Quickly and quietly, they made their way across the hall and to the hallway, and, as they beckoned behind them, a shadow appeared at the front door and became a person, who followed the first across the entrance hall. Yet as they crept into the shadows of the hallway, they never noticed a shadow move down the stairs, following them.

Then the intruders spotted the entrance to a room, and – turning about – they looked around themselves for any sign of life, and – spotting none – they entered the room. I heard them speaking to each other and a smirk framed my face, listening to their whispers of how they thought no one knew they were there. Following them to the entrance of the door I peeked in and watched as they both took out two brown bags and began to take things from the dining room cabinet and cupboards, being careful not to break any of the china or glass.

"Now then, we want a quick in and out job, all right? No one knows we're here and we wanna keep it that way, you understand?" One of them spoke up as they both grabbed and shoved bits of odd furniture into the bag, never looking up as he spoke; intent on his work.

"Yeh, yeh, yeh, I know the drill; in and out without makin' a sound, we've never failed the drill before and we ain't about to start." The other spoke, and also never turned as he grabbed items from the other side of the room; they never once noticed a figure standing in the doorway.

"Well, ah'm afraid you've just failed." I stood in the doorway and watched as they froze, and my smirk widened as they spun around and looked at me; petrified. "Now then, y'all be putting those thangs back now and then tha party can reallah (really) get started."

I watched as one of them gulped, but then my smirk became a frown as their petrified expressions were replaced by smirks of their own and as one of them began to advance on me. "I don't think so luvee, now then, you'll be getting' out of our way and no one needs get hurt." I glared at the person who dared threaten me and he backed away slightly, but amazingly kept his composure.

"Reallah? Well ah'm sorrah ta disappoint ya, but ah ain't gonna get out of your way and ya ahre gonna give back ma thangs." As I spoke I began to levitate in the air and watched as their calm, smirking expressions evaporated and became ones of utter fright and horror.

I began to walk on the air towards them, but just as I was beginning to advance Lexa walked through the door.

"Rogue, do you mind not talking so loudly, you woke me up." She didn't look at all phased by the two men who now stared at her; her face was one of utter calm.

Looking down at her I frowned, as if to say; "these are my toys Lexa, go get your own."

And she must of known what the frown meant because moments later she rolled her eyes, "all right Rogue, calm down girl! Sheesh! I was just checking what all the noise was, I know you've been wanting a new play mate for ages so I'm not about to try and get in your way." And she rolled her eyes at me and walked out of the room. "Oh…" her head appeared around the door again and she looked straight at the burglars; "have fun." Smiling wickedly, she winked at me and was gone.

I listened as her footsteps echoed down the hallway, smirked at the two very confused burglars and muttered to myself more than anyone; "oh I will."

That's when the fun began.

Standing as still as statues, they stared at me in horror; petrified, as I began to walk on air towards them. They stood together, still holding their bags and as I got within a metre of one of them, he dropped his bag and ran; but I was to quick. With reaction timing that Lexa would have been jealous of, I spun around and grabbed his collar as he tried to run past. Then, I telekinetically slammed the door shut, and, at the same time, spun the guy around in the air and let him go. I watched with a smirk as he slammed into the glass cabinet with a deafening crunch and the accompanying sound of smashing glass, dropping unconsciously to the floor. His fellow burglar's eyes widened at the blood spilling out of his friend and he gulped, turning to face me his eyes pleading with innocence. But whilst living with my fellow housemates I had soon forgotten the meaning of mercy and no pity filed my heart.

"No one's gonna help ya now sugah. Ah warned ya but no one evah listens ta meh, even though they reallah should." My smirk grew as he began to back away from me until there was nowhere for him to go and then I advanced on him. He managed to run past me and got to the door, banging on it and yelling he tried to escape but it was no use, he was all alone now. His face pale and petrified he turned to face me and pleaded through his eyes at me, but the pleading disappeared as my smirk widened and I shook my head at him.

But once again as I began to advance I was interrupted; this time by Kitty. She phased through the door and looked at the two burglars and me, one of them surrounded by blood. "Would you, like, keep it down in here. I was totally out of it and then you went and woke me up."

Shrugging I raised an eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes at me, phasing back through the door. But, then her head began to phase through the door again and she looked at me; "you do realise that you are, like, so gonna have to clean up this gunk coz it's totally gross." She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the blood and phased back out; noticing my scowl.

Turning back to the remaining burglar I smirked at him and began to advance; "lahke ah said no one's gonna help ya, y'all on yahre own now." Smirking at him I began to advance and he ran past me again, but it was no use, I grabbed him just like his friend but instead of throwing him I landed a punch right in his stomach. He flew into the wall behind – due to the super-strength I had put behind the punch – and fell onto his knees, whimpering in pain.

Sympathy was out of the picture as I walked to him and dragged him up to face me by his collar, and then I kicked him in the gut smirking as he moaned in pain. Then as I chucked him in the air, he hit the ceiling with a sickening crunch and as he fell back down he hit my rising fist and flew back into the ceiling, falling again only to meet my rising foot. I repeated this a couple of times; smirking and enjoying it as if I was a child playing a ball game, but this was no 'fun and games' time. As he hit the ceiling blood would fly in all directions, bouncing off my telepathic shield, and as I punched him blood would fly onto the floor and cover my hands.

After I had played with him for a bit I looked down at my hands and boots, after kicking him up towards the ceiling, and, snarling with disgust at the blood, I took a step back and snarled as his limp body smacked into the floor. "Look what yah've done ta ma gloves and boots! Y'all pay fohr that!" And I picked him up by his bloodied collar and spun him around my head, releasing him and smirking as he hit the wall next to his fellow burglar, his body limp and almost drained of life. Although neither were quite dead.

_Outside_

Eyes peered through the curtain at the scene before them and Wanda frowned, watching Rogue who was looking around carefully, no doubt for the eyes that the Goth felt watching her. But Wanda knew the tricks of this trade and stayed out of sight; her eyes filled with tears as she went over the night. Betrayal. She'd betrayed all of them: from her friends, all the way to her mentors, and even her boss; she had betrayed Lady Deathstrike and the whole company of _Le Diable Noirs_. Wanda had fallen in love with John all over again; she had fallen in love with the enemy; she had succumbed to the emotion, and she had developed the worst betrayal of all in this business:

Wanda had developed a _weakness_. Her love for John.

Rogue's eyes still searched and Wanda knew she'd do a scan soon enough, if she got too curious. But the excitement mus have been too much for the girl, and – after letting a big yawn escape her – Rogue left the room, her eyes still drowsily searching. Wanda knew she was heading to her room and, thanking anyone that could hear her whispers, she walked up to the window and focussed on the keys. Levitating lazily towards the window, the keys soon sunk into the keyhole and turned: opening it with a quiet click before they returned to their original place on the windowsill.

Stepping cautiously through the now open window, Wanda sighed as she entered the house and made her way to the door, however, before she'd taken a step she suddenly froze in place and was lifted in the air: her eyes finding a flash of green in the darkness. "Rogue…is that you?"

Her ears picked up the whispers as easily as they'd heard the click of the window lock and Rogue shone a torch on the third intruder, "Wanda? What ahre ya doing?"

"I didn't want to come in the front door just in case I woke anyone with the creaking; sorry Rogue."

"Na, it's fahne…but what ahre ya doing out this late anyway?"

"Clubbing." Her response was hurried: it wouldn't be too good to give a pause; Rogue would have been suspicious and found the answers herself. But the lie was excepted…for now, although Wanda didn't know how long it would hold in the morning.

"Alrahght, but ya bettah get ta bed befohr Betsy and Lorna fahnd ya; they got in a rahght pissy earliah when no one knew where y'all had gone." Smirking, Rogue slowly placed Wanda on the ground and waved a quick goodnight and then made her way out of the room.

Her fellow Goth only let out a sigh of relief when she heard a creak coming from the stairs, "shit. That was too close."

Remy and John gave each other a look from outside of the house: waiting until Wanda had left the room before they made their way to the window. "T'ink de fille knows we followed 'er?"

"If she did then she'd have killed us mate: I think we're in the clear. Come on…" John looked around the room as he poked his head through the window searching for any signs of life. Just as he turned to Remy to signal the all clear a creak was heard from out of the door and John jumped, hitting his head on the top of the window with an accompanied squeal, which was muffled by Remy.

"Get back…" pulling his friend back through the window, Remy hid himself and John in some bushes opposite the window, watching the room carefully behind the shrubbery, his sensitive eyes observing for any sign of movement. They picked up a hand, rapping around the door slowly, gradually creeping up until it reached something, and – quick as lightning – the light switch flashed on and Wanda span around, framed by the door: eyes glaring, searching, with a gun in hand. She stepped into the room; her footwork perfected by years of practice, and spun the gun around, watching for movement. Outside, watching everything curiously, both Remy and John waited for her to leave with baited breath.

She made no noise, and gradually made her way to the window: gun first, and pointed it at the bushes below the window, nudging the branches slowly, not even flinching as a bird shot out of them. Accuracy was met with death as the bullet pierced the bird on target, the bang echoing through both X-men's ears as they waited in the bushes still. And still Wanda held the gun high, spinning round only when someone else entered the room. The gun lowered and finally, a voice broke the silence. "You're losing your touch Lexa, I heard you coming."

"Whatever…what was with the gun shot?"

"I heard something…but it must have been the birds," Wanda turned to the window again and Lexa stepped up to her, entering the light and – unknown to her – revealing herself to the boys. They took in the glimmering midnight blue hair and shared a look – this was the girl at the mall; this was the one Logan talked about: Lexa, X-23…his clone 'daughter.' She was the one Pietro kept on mentioning everyone now and then, although he only knew her as the girl that had given him her number, the one he was waiting for to call him…wouldn't he be surprised.

"That's Pietro's Sheila…that one who hasn't called him, ya know: the one who's got him hooked- "

"Shut it…" Remy clapped a hand over John's mouth as the girls chatted quietly about the noise. Lexa lifted her head slightly as she thought she heard something, but before she could sniff anything Wanda linked arms with her pyjama clad friend and began to lead Lexa out of the room after turning off the light, mentioning something about the sickening smell of 'near-corpses.' "Dat was t' close mon ami: next time y' let Remy do de breaking et entering, d'accord?"

"Yeh, yeh…I get it: I screwed up. Now would you hurry up? I wanna check whats in that room."

_Two minutes later_

They stood – eyes wide, John's hand clasped over his mouth as if he might puke – over the bodies of the two, dying men and looked around the room: taking in the numerous broken items and the blood, which had been spread everywhere. "Remy t'ink he go et explore a different room…dis one's just sick, oui?"

"I'm coming with ya mate…" John stood by the burglars a little while longer, but as Remy whispered the pyromaniac's name, John walked out of the room casting his eyes back on the bodies one more time in disgust. "That's gross…Remy?" he caught up with his friend, "Remy, ya think the girls did that?"

"Remy don' wanna know mon ami…" but both of them really did know the answer. "Look Remy gonna check dis place out, all we know is dat Wanda et dat blue-haired chick are alive…we don' know about anyone else, so Remy's gonna find out, d'accord?"

"K…and I'll just –"

"Mon ami, y' make y' self comfortable down 'ere et don' go anywhere: got dat?"

"Ok…"

"Je suis désolé John, mais, y' ain't dat good a t'ief, so y' will jus' have t' stay out of sight." Remy smiled at John and then walked away from his friend, ignoring the muttering he heard.

_Upstairs_

She couldn't sleep. The adrenaline rush she'd received earlier was too much to let her even lie down, and the worrying about Wanda was just an added cause of her pacing. By the time they'd been here a year the floor would be worn through knowing Rogue, but as a slight breeze fluttered in from her open window, Rogue paused and walked over to the balcony. Stepping onto it and staring out over the railings, breathing in the fresh air, the young woman sighed and closed her eyes; succumbing to her calmness as she breathed in the different smells and listened to the early morning rustlings. The smell of flowers on the pond; lilies entangled in a controlled mess of algae, the chlorine from the pool mingling with the smell of fresh cut grass blowing about in the gentle breeze Rogue could feel on her face. The sound of several early birds fluttering about lazily in their nests, cooing and squeaking at an odd occasion and the feel of the smooth railings underneath her palms contrasting with the rough stone under her bare feet.

Silently, Rogue listened to the rustling of the wind as it entwined in her hair, causing it to flutter about her face and partially revealed body as she stood in her long sleeved, off-the-shoulder, black pyjama top and her three-quarter length, hunter green pyjama bottoms. She let out a sigh as she opened her eyes and turned from the balcony only to pause in her steps: there was a new smell…man. She made to whip around, but something caused her to stop; was it curiosity? Or possibly she just wanted to know what would happen if she didn't? She stood there; frozen as the smell of cologne and cigarettes encased her.

But all too soon she breathed out and made to run her pale hands through her hair in frustration, but stopped as a glint of red caught her attention and instead brought her hands up to her face and stared at them. Blood. It slowly climbed down her arms, dripping quietly onto the stone, giving colour to her feet as it fell onto them. Rogue hadn't thought about that: caught up in her moment of fun and pure joy, Rogue couldn't remember blood spilling onto her, but now as she stood in the dim light that the moon provided her, the Goth could see the blood that had splattered her. She really needed a shower, and she made her way towards her bathroom, _closing her balcony door behind her._

Slipping out of her pyjamas, leaving them_ in a pile _on the floor, Rogue _placed a towel onto the toilet seat_ – _not being bothered to use the railings_ – and stepped into the shower. Switching it on full power, Rogue let the cold water flush down her body as she sung to herself; her voice hardly audible over the rush of water. But Remy could still hear her as he crept into the bathroom; and he froze as her voice rang in his ears, listening to a song he had heard Rogue sing many times before…

"**Sometimes I feel I've got to/ Run away…Get away/ From the pain that you drive into the heart of me/ The love we share/ Seems to go nowhere/ I've lost my lights/ I toss and turn I can't sleep at night." **Rogue hummed quietly but still Remy didn't move. **"Now I know I've got to/ Run away I've got to/ Get away…"** a hand reached out of the shower and took the soap, the owner of it humming quietly as she rubbed it over herself. The glass of the shower was misted so you couldn't properly see in, so Remy could only see the shape of Rogue's body and he stepped closer to it, watching…admiring the way she moved as if she was dancing.

Rogue ran her hands through her hair after placing the soap back on its holder, letting the water cover her body as she leant back against the wall, lifting her head to the water and closing her eyes as it spilled over her. **"Don't touch me please/ I cannot stand the way you tease/ I love you though you hurt me so/ Now I'm going to pack my things and go/ Touch me baby, tainted love…"**

Remy stepped closer to the shower, his eyes wide as he watched her body…

"**Touch me baby, tainted love…"**

Closer still…his hands reaching out

"**Touch me baby, tain- " **Rogue jumped and let out a small scream as hands pressed themselves up against the glass of her shower. "Shit…" Rogue looked around with wide eyes as the hands retracted and she reached above the showerhead on instinct. Within seconds, she swung her hands around the glass with a gun in hand, the one she kept above the showerhead just in case. Ignoring the fact she was completely naked, Rogue followed after her hands and stepped out behind the cover of the glass, her footwork as precise as any other trained user of guns. The gun was swung and pointed at every corner of the room, but the bathroom was empty and she saw nothing.

Reaching behind herself as she made her way around the bathroom, Rogue made to grab her towel but as her hand only touched the cold surface of the toilet seat she spun around and stared at it before looking around the bathroom again. There it was: her towel, placed neatly onto the _towel rail_, folded in half…just like she couldn't be bothered to do. "Someone's here…" she spoke to herself partially in fear: something she hadn't felt in a long time – although the only reason she felt it now was due to the fact that someone had managed to sneak up on her.

Rogue rapped the towel tightly around her self, ignoring the clothes, which lay on the floor, all _neatly folded_ and spoke to herself again as she made her way to the door, gun first, "someone really has been here…"

The handle was slowly lowered, but the door was swung open as Rogue kicked it and she then pointed the gun at her room, cautiously making her way out of the bathroom. But she quickly lowered the gun and her eyes widened as she took in her _open_ balcony door. The gun was once again raised in a split-second, and Rogue slowly made her way to the balcony, jumping onto it and taking in the emptiness. "What the fuck?"

She never noticed the door closing until two things happened at once: the door clicked shut as hands grabbed Rogue's, pulling her hands back to her body as covered arms rapped around her waist.

"Bonjour Cherie…it's been t' long."

"Gambit…" Rogue made to look around but Gambit took one hand and held her face, positioned forward as the other gloved hand grabbed both of Rogue's wrists tightly, making her drop the gun as he tightened his grip. "But how?"

"Dat be Gambit's secret mon amour." He smirked as Rogue tried to struggle, most likely attempting to face him; but for some reason, Gambit didn't want that and instead he stopped her by swinging one of his legs around her ankles, causing Rogue to drop to her knees. But her attacker stopped the Goth from falling too fast as he caught her; gently lowering Rogue onto her knees as Gambit knelt behind her, loving the feeling of control and he knelt over Rogue's legs as he gripped both arms around the woman; tighter. His voice was low and harsh sounding as he whispered to Rogue quietly, "Gambit missed y' all dese years…" Rogue's eyes closed as his breath tickled her neck, his voice so husky and demanding. She hadn't felt this weak for years, but in Gambit's arms she loved the control he had over her: it was turning her on so much and she had no clue why…she hadn't had such a…such a _man_ for an eternity.

Nipping her neck lightly, Gambit ignored the light absorbing feeling he felt and instead smirked as she squirmed in his arms. "Y' like dat Rogue? D' y'?" he tightened his grip on her as he got no response and nipped her skin harder this time, "d' y' like dat?" she squirmed and it caused Gambit to let out a laugh, but it was cold and bitter. "Gambit hopes it puts y' in pain…he hopes it shows y' how much pain he's been in fo' dese past years Rogue…_years_." She could only look to the floor but Gambit forced her head back up and, growling, pulled Rogue tighter to him. "D' y' know how much pain we were all in? D' y' know what y' were doin' t' us? T' Gambit?"

"Ah'm sorrah…" Rogue's eyes widened in surprise as she heard herself whispering this, feeling tears stinging her eyes as she felt Gambit gripping her tighter, but that wasn't the thing causing so much pain to her.

"Y' sorry? Y' t'ink dat's gonna give moi back all dese years y' took from moi? Gambit needed y' et y' left him."

"Ah'm sorrah…" this time a sob caught in her throat as the words were whispered, and Rogue felt Gambit pulling her closer.

"Gambit knows y' are…but not as sorry as y' will be." She felt his grip on her face loosen, and he released it, slowly trailing his gloved finger down her face, trailing it down her neck before cupping his hand around Rogue's neck, he gripped it lightly and then lightly tickled her neck with his fingers.

Nipping the delicate skin on her neck Gambit breathed sweet nothings in her ear, smirking as she squirmed, before his hand lowered down to her chest, fingering the towel as if he was wondering what to do next. But both of them knew what he was really doing. Gambit wanted a reaction out of Rogue, he wanted her to do something: to try and refuse; he wanted to feel that ultimate power; he wanted her to beg him to do one or the other; to beg him to get it over and done with. But she knew this and Rogue did nothing. No noise escaped the woman's lips as the towel was pulled from her, and Rogue only leant back into Gambit's chest – her eyes shut tight, revealing herself to him.

Finally after all of these years – after these years apart when they'd grown to almost forget each other – now he could have her. Now Remy could really have Rogue the way he had craved so deeply ever since he had stared so deeply down into those bright, sparkling emerald eyes. He ran his hand down along her revealed chest, watching Rogue's face as he trailed a finger over different points. She gasped as he roughly grasped her breast in his hand and she frowned in frustration as he squeezed and rubbed it. "Oh gawd…" Rogue's whisper was followed by a gasp and her facial expression was so delicate: in it, Remy could see all of the desire, wanting and needing, he couldn't take his eyes off of her, not even as he trailed his hands lower.

Letting a gasp escape her lips, Rogue made to open her eyes but Remy spotted and covered them with a hand, "non mon amour…y' took Gambit out of y' life, y' don' have de right t' even look at moi."

Rogue struggled as she tried to look up at Remy, but he held his hand in place and gripped tighter on her wrists. "Please, ah just wanna see ya…ah miss ya."

Smirking, Remy quickly released the hand that had been covering Rogue's eyes, pulled off a bandanna he had been wearing and rapped it around her face, risking releasing her wrists as he tried to tie the bandanna. Rogue put up a struggle, and made to remove the bandanna but Remy stopped her by doing the only thing possible: he pushed her roughly and Rogue fell onto the stone, caught by Remy as he lay her down gently. Then, Remy returned to the bandanna and quickly tied it tight, flipping Rogue onto her back to make sure it was on properly: and, sure enough, her eyes were covered tightly and Rogue lay on the ground struggling as Remy held her.

"Ya little shit! Let meh go!" she panicked; not in years had such a woman of power been in this situation, she was weak and vulnerable and now Remy had the control to do anything he wanted, but even more disturbingly, she was still naked and lay at his hands. Struggling more then ever, Rogue tried to hit him; but he caught her hands, pushing them above her head with a single hand that gripped both wrists. There was only one more thing to do and Rogue opened her mouth, but before the scream even escaped her lips his mouth was clamped onto hers.

Struggling and fighting again Remy, pushing him with her hands as she tried to release herself, Rogue suddenly got an idea as it came to mind and as her absorption began to take it's toll on Remy he made to pull back but she simply moved with him. A smirk framed her lips as he struggled and pulled from her, but Rogue only rapped her legs around his back and pulled him closer. Then as she felt him beginning to weaken, as the memories flooded into her, she released Remy with a gasp when something stroked her inner thigh lightly. Looking up into the blackness of the bandanna Rogue gasped again, feeling a finger trailing up her thigh so lightly that it tickled and Rogue arched into the touch.

She hadn't felt this lust, no matter how many men she had seen, and she had had her few…although they never managed to get far before they 'fell asleep.' But this was different: he was cheating…and Rogue wondered why – with all these years to find a way past her powers – why she hadn't thought of something as simple as gloves. But all questions, all thoughts evaporated as the finger reached her core and stroked it lightly, pushing it softly as, unknown to her, Remy smirked down at Rogue, watching as she bit her lip in ecstasy. "Tell Gambit t' stop mon amour, et he'll leave y'."

She couldn't…she should've said no…but she just couldn't find it in herself and as he stroked her she didn't want him to, she wanted him to do things to her: to cause her a pleasurable pain she knew only he could make her feel.

"Well?"

The question rang in her ears: threats entwined delicately in its web of alluring desires, tangled in the depths of its forbiddance. But she wasn't going to deny it: betrayal forced its way out of Rogue's head and was replaced with lust, such a sensation that made Rogue arch again into his touch; surprising Remy as he leant towards her, whispering to her.

"Are y' sure? Cuz y' know dat dis Cajun won' stop what 'e starts…" she only smirked, closing her eyes in acceptance of this pure ecstasy.

"Ahre ya scared? Cuz ah think that's tha onlah reason yahre pausing, _Cajun_," she hissed the word seductively to him and he accepted the challenge kissing her lips as he slid his finger into her.

VvVvVvV

_Downstairs_

"Nope…nope…definitely not…"

"Oof!" Wanda caught the magazine, which had been hurled at her chest and looked at it, _The No. 1 Guide to Assassination._ Her eyes travelled to the pile of thrown books, magazines and paper clippings…_Assassination Attempts in Africa; Assassin Weekly; Le Diable Noir: Pure Devils? 101 Tips on Shooting from Distances_.

"Ooh, this looks good…wait…no it doesn't."

When _Fire and Felony_ was hurled past her, Wanda only smirked as she watched John lounging in a chair…ironic that it was her favourite chair, "Lexa will smell your prints on these you know?" Walking over to the chair as his figure froze, a single push swung it around and John stared up at his lover as he shrunk down into the chair.

"Uh-oh?" he tried.

Changing the subject, Wanda tried to stay as calm as possible, although she couldn't lose the smirk. "Why am I really not surprised?"

He shrunk further as she leant on the chair; leaning down towards him, "um…cuz you heard me?" 'Please say the Sheila doesn't know about Remy…Rogue would kill him if she knew he was here…probably.'

"I can't believe you had the nerve to follow me," her voice was lowered and Wanda looked at the ceiling, 'god…don't let them find us…' "why did you do it, you maniac!"

He followed her gaze and hissed back with as much urgency, "I don't know. I just wanted…" no, he couldn't say that, she'd get suspicious. 'Too late…'

Narrowing her eyes, Wanda really did begin to get suspicious, "you wanted what?" He looked shifty; he was hiding something. "Oh god no." That was all Wanda said, but her actions spoke clearly enough as she pulled John out of his seat; "you have to get out. You can't go snooping around; whether they're alive or not is _none_ of your business, you get me?" She didn't even pause for breath. "I don't want them to know about you and I don't want anyone to know about us, got that? If anyone – the girls; Brotherhood; Acolytes; X-men – finds out about us then you are _so_ dead!"

"Yes, yes and no! I don't wanna die."

John always was over-dramatic, and Wanda was reminded as he dropped to his knees, pulling on her pyjama top as he looked up with puppy-dog eyes at her. "Quit it, you'll pull down my top!" He raised his eyebrows and smirked but whimpered as she slapped his hands away.

"What?" Smirking again, John stood up and looked down at his dream-girl, "I've already seen it before…why not again?"

She wanted it; damn the girl wanted it bad… "No! Lexa will smell it, they'll find out!"

"Excuses."

"No!" she hissed it with urgency and desperation before turning John only to push him through the door. "Go!"

VvVvVvV

It hadn't exactly been the best goodbye, but it wasn't like John was complaining; the amount of touchy-feely was enough to get his head spinning, or that could of just been the pushing around. However, no matter how much he protested John knew it was time to leave and as he walked through the bushes he realised Remy thought so too.

The Cajun was sat on a tree stump, staring into the distance as he held his gloves in a hand, turning them over until his friend appeared. The moment John came into sight, Remy whipped his gloves into a pocket and stood up, "y' took y' time mon ami."

"Yup, sure did. What's with the gloves mate?"

"None o' y' business," he stood up and was amazed to find that John wasn't surprised by the outburst.

"Fair enough…I don't wanna know, but we better get back to the mansion."

"Oui. Mais, what's wid de magazines?" John followed Remy's eyes to the pile in his arms and scratched his head with his free hand.

"Uh…none of your business mate!"

"John."

"Nope."

"Pyro."

"Na-da." He was given a stern look and sighed, "look, I was just looking through them and then I realised that the clone-girl would be able to smell my scent on them: I was thinking _logically_."

"Dat just makes Remy all de more suspicious o' y' mon ami…"

"Whatever…but anyway, I think you owe me a bit of money mate, cuz I have an idea you might of failed that bet of yours."

VvVvVvV

_Later that Morning; Le Diable Noirs Mansion_

Betsy took in the empty tray and raised an eyebrow, "Wanda?" she asked the girl behind her.

"Yeh?" The girl in question took in the empty tray and her eyes widened.

"You don't know where my magazines are, do ya luv?"

"I threw them out…"

"But they were here yesterday."

Shrugging, Wanda made her way out of the room, "couldn't sleep last night."

Betsy watched as the Goth left the kitchen and frowned, "but I was up at four am…what is with these vampires?"

End of Chapter

Ok, a bit of a different chapter and a different ending…but I hope you like it; I'm not too sure. Leave reviews: help me out here! Was it ok or pure rubbish? Ta! .x.Thrills.x.


	17. Assassination Organisation

Wooh! Helloooooooo! Not that long since my last chapter I don't think…so it's a bit of a surprise that it's up so soon huh? Well don't act too surprised…and please don't get too used to it: I have school starting this Tuesday and its GCSE year! OH GOD! I'm NOT looking forward to it! But I hope you're all looking forward to more of my story, so here it is! 

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

Written letters or notes are underlined

_"Telepathic thoughts and the other line of the phone is in Italics and speech marks _"

Chapter 17

VvV Assassination Organisation VvV

_Tuesday morning, Diable Noirs Mansion, Simulation/Danger Room_

The music rang out through my ears, the pulse and beat echoing loudly as I appeared in a different room: the Danger Room lay out before me as I sat in my chair – my legs hanging over an arm – and watched Lexa.

Down on the floor below me I watched her smirking, simply watching as a figure ran out towards her but instead of moving, the mutant let it come closer and casually flipped her head back, brushing her hair into a tight ponytail before flipping her head back up. As the person neared her, Lexa began to tie up her hair and then…in a swift sliding motion, moved out of it's way and finished off the ponytail, flicking a strand of midnight blue back over her shoulder into it, before looking up at me.

"Heya Wanda!" her yell reached me and I just waved back, laughing as she was hit from behind due to not paying attention. "Shit! End the simulation!"

"Simulation ending…" 

The voice rang out, and soon enough both Lexa and me were absorbed in a glowing light, and then the next moment we found ourselves in the Medic Bay. I was sat in a plastic chair, whilst Lexa was standing in front of a strange tube.

"Well now, what can I do for you?" Lorna appeared, and the moment the metal manipulator came into sight, the contraption Lexa stood in front of began to whirr and the air in it rose. "Simulation?" I watched as Lexa nodded and then Lorna spoke up again as if she was stating the obvious, "in you go Lexa."

"But I don't want to!"

"In." And with that Lexa was lifted in the air; the door to the Injury Detector opened and she was pushed in – judging by Lorna's raised hand – by the mentor's powers. Lexa's body floated up and she began to slowly spin around, the mutant's outfit disappearing and before long she was floating in a pair of short-shorts and a sports bra – something we all wore when training. Although when we were out for proper fights, we all seemed to change into more…erotic lingerie.

"A bruise on your back and a couple of bruises on…ok, forget that," Lorna threw the notepad she had been holding onto one of the beds nearby and placed her hands on her hips. Frowning, she pulled several faces as Lexa spun around and then sighed, pulling her tape recorder back out of the pocket of her doctor's coat; being a qualified doctor. "Patient is fine: no injuries; no…" Lorna paused and thought of a suitable word, "problems. Perfect as usual."

Lexa got out of the Injury Detector and sighed, "I don't see why you make me go into that thing. I don't see why you even made it; can't you just turn us around in mid air anyway."

"No, I can't do that with the other three; they have no metal on their bones…funnily enough." Lorna raised her eyebrows as Lexa pulled a face at her; "so the metal energy I channel into that thing lifts you all up on it's current and then I can spin you around at what rate I want. Besides, after a bit more work I can mass-produce these things and they'll be a benefit to doctors all over the world! I could make a bit of money by myself for once, become a rich and powerful entrepreneur and then…" she stopped herself and seemed to come back to earth.

"And then?"

We both waited for a finish but Lexa gave it for her, "and then no more working for 'you know who?'"

"Don't be ridiculous Lexa, my work here is my life: I love it to the ends of the earth." Lorna began to walk away, yet her expression and tone distinctly told us that her comment was the exact opposite of how she truly felt.

"Can we go?"

"Oh yes…" Lorna turned back around, "you're perfectly fine."

The girls headed back to the lift and gave each other a look as they entered it, "blimey…she must be really out of it; she didn't even ask if you'd done a simulation."

"Yeh…"

VvVvVvV

_"The men have both been examined and it appears they are in a fatal state but it has been confirmed that they will recover in time. In which they will be facing a trial sentence as they have been confirmed as the notorious China Brothers…for their seemingly unending collection of priceless, stolen china."_

The TV channel was changed but Betsy stopped flicking through channels, as she switched onto another new channel, halfway through the main story.

"_No further information has been discovered about the death of Mr Dyne. The strange occurrences don't seem to fit in together, police have only been able to gather information that one of the last times he was seen, was answering a call on his mobile."_ Wanda looked up from the book she was reading on the sofa and frowned, turning to Betsy.

"When was that first on the news?"

Turning from the screen, Betsy shrugged, "I haven't heard about it before luv, I think I saw something about it on a local newspaper but I haven't seen any news reports. Although, I wasn't watching it for quite a while. Better start watching it again…need to check they don't get any leads…interesting stuff with those burglars though: weren't they Rogue's latest victims and the reason she hasn't got out of bed yet?

"Mm…I think so…" Wanda put down her book and watched the report with interest.

_"The last time Mr Dyne was seen was hurrying into a Hotel, the Hotel in which he was dropped; staff report to have seen him rushing through the Entrance Hall. He appeared to know precisely where he was going and was in an extreme rush, although – with Mr Dyne being a regular – they were used to this kind of behaviour due to constant lateness of meetings. Therefore they didn't find anything out of the ordinary."_ The Person speaking then turned to a screen behind her and faced a different camera.

"_Police are suspecting the death could possibly be a suicide, although it has been rumoured to be an assassination attempt; so far they have no leads and no clues whatsoever. As for Mr Dyne's son, he apparently was last seen leaving one of his father's clubs and has not been spotted since, although members of the public claim to have spotted him entering the Hotel not long before his father appeared. Yet Staff insist no one under the name of 'Dyne' reserved a room and the cameras show no evidence of Matthew Dyne entering or leaving the building. _

_Yet, new light has shone upon Matthew Dyne to actually be none other than the infamous _Sebastian Shaw; _a respectfully, wealthy business man, however police are saying that there is not enough evidence to prove this and for the moment it is out of the question_." A picture appeared on the screen and then shrunk to one half of it as a new picture appeared and then shrunk next to it, both showing – who Wanda knew to be – the same person. _"Police are investigating but have found no new information."_

_"We will now see a video for the first time, which was taken moments before Mr Dyne was dropped. This exact Hotel had been a main tourist attraction for decades now and tourists were crowding outside when they heard screams and looked up: only to find Mr Dyne hanging out of a window for a few moments before he fell."_

The video began to play but suddenly the TV screen went black and the people in front of it turned to the man holding the remote control. "I am sure you will not mind me interrupting, as you have all seen this video before due to Kurt's…hobbies," the group in the room turned to face Kurt, who blushed under his blue fur – which had darkened over the years with age. They all knew of his hacking habits…a habit he had picked up from none other than Kitty, who had shown him how to hack years ago although he never bothered to develop his skills until she left; in the hope of discovering something new about her disappearance.

"Sorry Professor…"

Xavier smiled and just steepled his hands, "it is quite alright Kurt." After stating this he turned his wheelchair around and typed into a large screen, bringing up information about different assassination associations.

Turning to his wife, Kurt whispered in her ear, "you think he's mad at me?"

"He said he wasn't Kurt," Amanda smiled and shook her head in amusement as Xavier raised his eyebrows at Kurt, and as their leader turned around she whispered to him again, "but he will be soon."

"These organisations are under my suspicious-"

Suddenly, all of the students looked around when Logan did something completely unexpected as he interrupted Xavier, something he made sure no one else ever did, "why are you still even searching about this?" But as Xavier raised his eyebrows, Logan understood and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding back, "oh god no."

"Logan I am truly apologetic, but it is important that we know the answers."

"No Charles. Stop this!"

"I must know Logan, and for heavens sake don't you want to know?" Logan ran his hands through his hair and let out a frustrated growl, "she might still be alive."

"Don't you dare even say that!" The students looked from one mentor to the other with wide eyes; some arguments had sprung up between them both, but it had always been behind closed doors. And this was something they had never witnessed. "She's GONE! They're all GONE!"

"Logan, please calm yourself."

But the mutant just turned from the room with what sounded distinctly like a roar, and before long they heard the entrance door to the mansion slamming shut. Xavier just turned to his students with an apologetic smile; "you are all dismissed. Cyclops, Beast, Storm, Phoenix, I would be much obliged if you would wait behind." They did as requested: Scott and Hank standing from their chairs to near Xavier as he turned his wheelchair back to the screen in front of himself, which showed many pictures of different bases of operations, it seemed. Ororo had already been standing next to Charles and she placed a hand upon his wheelchair as she scanned the screen.

The last in question stayed seated in her place with a sigh, and Phoenix/Jean locked both her eyes and mind onto the screen in front of herself as the other three chatted animatedly about the organisations. And before long, a picture was wiped off of the screen due to elimination. "Professor," Jean made to move to her instructor and pointed at another picture of a base: if X-23 really is with the girls as you stated they would not be residing in Hydra. There were reports, which Kurt found about bases in Hydra being destroyed not too recently, but not that long after Rogue and Kitty disappeared…about a day or so." She examined it closely, "there were also some reports he discovered – due to my requests," Jean raised an eyebrow at Scott who was frowning in his disgust of the hobby and his face lightened at these words. "They showed a mass destruction of several Hydra bases by none other the X-23 herself: so unless they themselves are turning against specific unimportant bases, it shows that the girls could not possibly be under the instruction of such an organisation. As you note by these several attacks in the past years, main co-operators in Hydra's operations have been eliminated."

Pausing, Jean turned as the doors to the mission-room opened, and as Kurt stepped in she beckoned him over, "if I could show you?" Being granted her request; Jean gestured to the computer for Kurt who sat and began to type.

"This certainly is interesting my child," Storm nodded her head as all the information sunk in and watched Kurt as he scanned through the computer with ease.

"Well, when your powers advance as mine do it appears to increase certain aspects of your knowledge and develops you mind for thinking." Turning back to the screen, Jean's eyes flashed brightly as she examined the password.

"No problem here…just a little shifting about."

Proudly, Jean's eyes shone as she spoke, "_infiltration_."

The word was typed. The letters were accepted, and Nightcrawler ported from file to file until, in no matter of timing, her was in and a list of names and faces began to flash on the screen before one grew in size and zoomed into the left, top corner. Another picture grew and flashed next to the first and before long there were six pictures lined across the computer screen; all being the pictures of several people that Jean and Kurt had already studied. All of the pictures with names, dates of births and dates of deaths filed underneath them.

"Every single person before your eyes was a major incorporator of not only information for Hydra, but money; resources; alibis for certain missions. They were all necessary in Hydra's line of word…although if you got rid of one it would not be to greatly damaging, because they always had backup for the certain area of work the original person worked in before their untimely death. In each case there are three different people in the line of work," Jean pointed to the screen and ignored as the images fuzzed before returning to their normal state.

"John Livermore; a genius in the field of assassination. It was his main line of work: hidden only by his weekly job as a marketing manager. Amy Opal, killed four and a half years ago," Kurt paused in his work and typed into a different computer, bringing up a picture on the main screen, along side the faces. A picture that caused Scott to squirm uncomfortably, but something that made the Phoenix in Jean smirk openly. A woman lay on the ground, although she was a woman no longer: fully decapitated with her entire body mangled beyond help. "Brutal murdering. Not the work of an assassin, simply decapitation. Or so it seemed until Gloria Smith was murdered: dropped from a fifty-story hotel (still can't decide if that's high or not…) however this was not the case of a brutal murder, as police discovered. This was a carefully planned assassination: she was the last in the line of assassination, and with her death ended the exploration of assassin organisations. It appeared that Hydra was getting too close to several organisations, and they weren't happy, but there are too many different companies involved and several have been removed permanently due to respect issues."

Jean spoke up next as Kurt made the last three images larger, before Nightcrawler slid his chair over to the second computer, removing the rather distasteful image as he searched through several databases for extra information. "However, these people worked in a different line of work and were also assassinated. Several corporations match up from both cases," as the redhead spoke; several images of different organisations appeared on the screen. "They worked in the line of mutation assassination. Not mutants assassinated, but the other way around: mutants whose job it is to assassinate. Multiple companies work with mutants in these cases, although several times it is only speculation and nothing can be proved. Several businesses even openly employ mutants for these kinds of things."

Kurt described the first killing and then focussed attention on the second: John Policies. He was fatally injured and would have died soon enough, however the police needed some information first and questioned him furtively, he finally managed to remember a piece of information he thought of use and attempted to speak. After a while, Mr Policies managed to speak several words which – caught on tape – have been identified as 'the girls,' before he received a fatal shot in the chest; killing him instantly." Jean explained the last murder and then turned to the screen and gestured to the remaining twenty-three bases still left.

"Kurt has managed to match up the bases in question from both assassination organisations. Removing the organisations that prove no importance; only one company was working on these killings…others had questioned the idea but only one of them put it into action. These are the possibilities and therefore are the necessary ones." Several pictures then disappeared, "those were simply bases under your questioning Charles, but they have no link with both killings and it therefore shows that they aren't involved in this."

19 were left and the group admired them. "Now you may be wondering how – from trying to find the girls – I got to this. Well: there is adamant proof that the girls were involved in the company of these killings, because they committed some of these assassinations themselves. This all started from my belief that Hydra was not a possibility for their line of work, and I stand by that still: Hydra may not be where they work, but it is where they do their work, or more; it is at the receiving end of their assassinations. It is the main operation with which the girls focus their attention due to rivalries with certain organisations." More images disappeared, "therefore we can cut down our search to these remaining eight unions, and in one of those bases we will find the girls."

Smiling proudly, Jean and Kurt faced the screen with the rest of the group – who were all aware of the numerous students behind the door, listening in on everything they were saying – and examined each base, leaving it there as Kurt did one final piece of work. After a bit of tampering the screen was finally left with eight pictures up all surrounding a picture of a base of Hydra.

A certain base was situated right at the top in the middle, directly above the image of Hydra's base and underneath it – just like the rest of the images – was the name of the organisation.

_Le Diable Noirs_

End of Chapter

A short chapter, but very informative, and it finished off some stuff from last chapter, which I have a habit of not doing, lol! I hope you all liked the ending…and although there wasn't much happening in this chapter to excite anyone, hopefully there will be soon. .x.Thrills.x.


	18. PostMission Anticipation2

WOW! This _has_ been a long time…but you know what, I think there might not be _that_ many long waits cuz I think were about just over half way through! I'm gonna say maybe ten more chapters, but I have NO clue! Just a guess, ok! So I hope you enjoy every second you read this and I so hope it makes up for the wait! 

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

Written letters or notes are underlined

_"Telepathic thoughts and the other line of the phone is in Italics and speech marks _"

Chapter 18

VvV Post-Mission Anticipation2 VvV

_X-Mansion, Outside the Door of the Meeting_

"Y' got all o' dat?"

"Yup."

"Y' sure?"

"Yup."

"Johnny, y' can' have. We weren' here fo' half o' dat an' Remy needs t' know de rest o' it," Remy raised an eyebrow at John who shrugged and then opened his mouth, but was cut short.

A shy voice spoke up behind them, met with a giggle from the girl's companion, "maybe we could help?" Jubilee giggled once again and then turned to Amara, "I wrote it all down, so we'll tell you the rest," stopping Remy in his tracks when he opened his mouth, the girl continued. "_If_, you do us a favour."

"Oui!"

"Wait! What's the favour?" Eyeing them suspiciously, John watched the interaction of giggles between the girls.

"Well, we want to go to this club tomorrow night – Club Voodoo – right, but the Prof. says we need a senior to go with us," Amara looked to Jubilee again and then turned back, knowing the older guys got the hint. "What d'ya say?"

"Don' see why not."

"You sure?"

"Johnny. Remy need dis information."

"Uh…sure." All three of them looked to the door as the handle was pushed down and then – with beckoning from the younger girls – Remy and John ran after them, not noticing as another door was opened further down the corridor.

'Patsy' leant against the frame, smirking triumphantly before she began to follow the four: the yearly training making her process unnoticeable and before long she was leant against another door listening on the conversation; pen and paper in hand. After that little work out, Pietro wouldn't wake up for a while. Especially not with the mind control she had over him. Dangerous with such telepaths in the mansion, but with so little power used it was hardly something to focus on when so many other powers were being unleashed.

VvVvVvV

_Wednesday Morning, Le Diable Noir's Mansion, Living Room_

"You're needed. Lady Deathstrike requires your presence," Booming importantly over the living room at the girls, Betsy's voice caused the girls to jump but when all of them made to stand she simply shook her head. "No girls, only _Kitty_ is required: it's for your mission."

The words were valid enough and, with a shy turn to the other girls, the mutant walked confidently out of the room towards the lift.

VvVvVvV

_Lady Deathstrike's Office_

Curiously, Kitty turned from her mistress as she mentally ran through the things she had just been informed of for her mission, and then she turned back, "how was the information discovered? That place is, like, impenetrable."

"Sage." Lady Deathstrike spoke commandingly and in an instant a young woman – not that much older than Kitty – stepped into the room, nodding towards Kitty with respect. "This is Tessa, or Patsy as she is known to the Xmen."

The woman before Kitty had blood-red hair and very pale skin for she was – unknown to Kitty – Pietro's 'girlfriend', this certain disguise a look made for being _noticed_ by a guy. Soon enough though a familiar looking watch was removed and Kitty watched without surprise as the hair faded to black whilst it shortened considerably in a careless ponytail. As the eyes lightened to – what the phaser mutant considered as – a boyishly muddy brown, Kitty admired her tan. Quite the Tomboy. And – it seemed – quite the spy for _Le Diable Noirs_.

"I enjoy my work of setting up well-trained spies to work in different areas: mainly to gather information on what is happening from enemies; work colleagues; or – what the Xmen are considered to be – possible future threats." Giving a nod to her Employee, Lady Deathstrike permitted the telepathic mutant – Sage – to speak.

"My work at the X-Mansion had mainly been infiltration: checking on information that they have gained about you and your fellow colleagues, but also to keep an eye on certain mutants that we have been tracking. Several need to be watched for specific reasons; such as the young girl I have been tagging lately." To Kitty's left a screen appeared on the wall – having been telepathically switched on and several images scanned onto it, namely a picture of a young girl in an Xmen outfit.

The image did a 360-degree spin before it stopped with the girl facing out of the screen and soon enough information appeared; the important parts read out loud by the same mechanical voice used in the lifts. "Jubilation Lee: no Codename – member of the Xmen; New Mutant division. 17 Years of Age. Romantic Interests include Ray Crisp: Codename – Berzerker."

Pausing the computer in its progress, allowing Kitty's eyes to linger on the image of a matured version of her previous teammate Berzerker, Sage spoke up; "we find it necessary to discover romantic interests. These can possibly be used as bait, including close friends and family."

"Close friends: Amara Aquilla; formerly known as Princess of Nova Roma; Codename – Magma." As the name was read out loud, a picture appeared on the screen to accompany it, before the image of Jubilee came up again, taking half of the screen as another familiar picture appeared. Much to Kitty's surprise.

Sage spoke up again, "I'm sure you will recognise Carol Danvers, aka. Ms Marvel. I have recently discovered Jubilee has a close relationship with her: you will find that they are actually close second cousins who used to enjoy keeping in contact."

Kitty whispered something that sounded to Sage like 'really' and the Spy paused for enough time to nod before giving her explanation to her previous point.

"As Jubilation's parents neglected contact with Ms Marvel for being a mutant – until they found out their daughter was one, although their relationship was purely severed by then – Jubilation herself decided to keep in touch with her fellow. So after the attack on her second cousin, Jubilee was informed of Carol's whereabouts and her state, but not how she got into it." Sage looked to Lady Deathstrike, "they are not aware of how this occurred and therefore neither is Jubilee. Xavier is the only other who knows about the whereabouts of the mutant: having needed to give permission for Hydra to contact Carol's second cousin, although he only gave it in consent due to their family relationship. I discovered Amara Aquilla, Remy Lebeau and St John Allerdyce are also aware of Ms Marvel but none know of any useful information; it being strictly confidential. We need the information on Carol Danver's whereabouts desperately and the girl is the only source for it. And this leads you to your mission." Sage glanced to Lady Deathstrike and with a nod from her mistress gave a deep bow to the mutant and turned back to face Kitty. Giving Kitty a short yet respectful nod of her head and an almost sarcastic – Kitty noted – telepathic message of the words "_good luck_," the Tomboyish-Spy left.

"You are aware, Shadowcat," turning from the screen to Lady D, Kitty nodded towards her; showing she was paying the utmost attention, "that not too long ago you were sent on a mission. Discover, hunt and kill. The person under threat was none other than that of Ms Marvel, and it was _unsuccessful_."

"I am sorry on behalf of my companions and I, Mistress-"

Kitty was interrupted; "do not apologise for something that I know was technically not your fault." Disappointment rang out in Lady Deathstrike's voice and the mutant shook her head, "Rogue's failure left Hydra with an access to Mutant Assassination, who now lies in a – possibly permanent – coma. Although – unless she awakens – she is not an advantage to Hydra, she is neither an advantage to us, which proves nothing in the skill of your assassination. Normally in this case I would take the one who failed so they could prove their worth. But…" turning to stare at the woman before her, with the first ever sigh Kitty had heard her mistress permit escape, Lady Deathstrike shook her head in Kitty's direction, but not at her personally.

"Yes Mistress Oyama?" concern was shown when using Yuriko's second name, and so it was hardly permitted; but as Kitty drew back in expectance of a scolding – having let it slip – she received none. Disappointment must have been shown in Rogue's failure more than any before; for it was a most important task that was necessary to be completed, and Rogue was a highly respected assassin…even though at that point she was only in training.

The Japanese eyes skimmed the floor in a lost manner before they raised to Kitty's own, "my dear, her failure was…pitiful. I would not have thought it possible of such a warrior, of such a…a natural assassin. Therefore I needed another natural, and so the opportunity would have presented itself to X-23, however her skills are required in a further ambition of mine and so it is up to you Shadowcat. I reject failure; I let Rogue go because it would have been a true waist, and besides: if one would go down, the rest must fall too – you were all involved and fairness may not be a priority of mine, yet I cannot abandon it. The information provided shows that Jubilation Lee has an intimate family relationship with none other than Carol Danvers; the one I must rid myself of for pure protection of this organisation. She is to attend a club later this evening, which gives you a perfect opportunity to strike. Your mission: detain with as _little_ harm required so she can be brought in for further questioning by one of my hired telepaths. You shall infiltrate the club and I shall have her brought to me…the plans are simple yet difficult in their intensity…"

The voices were muffled, yet it was all Sage could do but listen through the door – telepathy when those like Miss Braddock were on the protection list was not an available option. So she stood by the door and listened, her familiar pen and paper in hand; and when the conversation finished, Sage flipped her notepad shut, unaware of the few ending notes having moved away from the door. The X on the front of her notepad was embellished in honour, shining in its pureness of truth.

Tessa may be a spy…but for which side, it was unknown even to herself…

VvVvVvV

_Wednesday Evening, Le Diable Noirs Girl Mansion, Kitty's Room_

"Yahre wearing that ta a nahght club? Ahre ya mental!"

Turning from the mirror at which she was currently staring at, Kitty frowned at Rogue, "yes. It is a proper mission," and with that Rogue received an 'are you stupid' roll of the eyes.

"Well Wanda went in casual wear if y'all don' mahnd."

Kitty turned back to the mirror and held her hand out, concentrating on doing up the cloak Lexa had handed her, fastening the clasp tightly. "She had to be seen." With that Rogue watched Lexa silently walking behind their teammate as the midnight-haired mutant lifted the hood of the cloak over Kitty's head, smirking proudly when Kitty turned around. She was completely hidden by the cloak, and if Rogue hadn't of seen Shadowcat disappearing underneath it, she wouldn't have known that it was her own friend. The mutant was purely her nickname: a cat in the shadows. The black cloak had one longer side that rapped over the other to encase Kitty, with a very large, long hood that situated Kitty's face in complete darkness. She could see out, but no one apart from Lexa could see in. "But I can't allow for anyone to know who I am. Not that they'd recognise me anyway, but I can't be seen: it's too dangerous." Sighing, Kitty lowered the hood and opened the cloak to admire her _Diable Noir_ usual outfit, "this mission is purely detainment. It will be easy."

VvVvVvV

_Club Voodoo, Later on_

A cloaked figure stepped out of a limousine, which drove hurriedly away before anyone got a good view of it: difficult to do anyway in the darkness and with all of the other vehicles blocking the road. The black silhouette watched satisfactorily as it got clean away in a moment of seconds before she began to make her way towards the entrance doors, watching the crowds from under her hood with a manner of secretive curiosity. She couldn't spot them anywhere. Knowing Xavier they would have fast access though; after all, with their government funding it wouldn't be such a hard thing to get.

Her eyes glazed over a guard, who immediately noticed her presence once Kitty's figure had stepped into the light, and he tensed. Forewarned of her coming, the guard had been told to admit the 'Shadowcat' – as she was named – in immediately and so the guard did so, preparing to block off the doors with a chain as they swung shut, knowing the fact that things were about to get a bit…touchy.

But as he lifted the chain link over the door it opened slightly and the figure came back out again, her voice speaking so softly to him he could hardly hear her, "have the X-men arrived?"

"Yes ma'am," nervously, the bodyguard tried to act as professional as possible but he couldn't keep the fright from his face as a cruel laugh echoed from somewhere inside the hood.

"Excellent." And with that she left. But the girl wasn't the only one to approach him with question after she had gone in.

_Kitty's Mission – Inside the Club_

Glazed over with a passionate lust for her work, Kitty's eyes wandered: searching; watching curiously. They would be here and she would find them no matter how long it took her – this was a job and she couldn't fail, her life was held on the line because of a previous failure that wasn't even her fault. Gracing her lips, a scowl formed momentarily as Kitty's eyes narrowed: Rogue was the pure reason for the ultimate pressure under which she was placed and even though she loved the woman as a sister and always would…still the spite dug into the back of her mind.

If only the girl had listened…

VvV Flashback VvV

"Remember guys, we just kill her and that's it. And we work _as a Team._"

"Ya, ya, we know tha deal: lets get this thing ovah ahn done with!" Impatiently turning to Rogue, the young women all raised their eyebrows, but she simply shrugged and before she could be stopped the Goth had already advanced.

"So, like, much for team?" but as a scream racked the air Kitty's mouth tightened shut and as one they watched in horror as 'Ms Marvel's' hand tightened around their companion's throat. The struggle came between Heroin and Assassin: one struggling for her own life, which she knew they came to strip from her…whilst she unknowingly had it sucked from her the longer she held on. Piteously – for during their assassination training they had not yet been taught the necessary lesson of no-pity, no-mercy – the other girls watched on, helpless as the struggle continued.

Rogue's hands pulled at the Blonde's who desperately fought to take Rogue's life to keep her own. Yet as Ms Marvel tried to kill the girl – whose neck her hand was strangling – she couldn't quite connect the draining feeling she felt sucking the life out of her increasing the longer she held on.

Panicking, Lexa couldn't hold back the yell she felt rising in her throat: "ROGUE! MAKE HER LET GO! TELL HER TO LET GO: YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED! STOP ABSROBING HER!" But the screaming coming from both women only elevated as the suction increased in intensity and only then did Carol Danvers understand what was happening to her. But by then it was too late. The draining sensation had overpowered Rogue and the darkness forming in the back of her mind took control: the other minds and souls sucked back in there pushed forward in the mutant's weakness.

As Ms Danvers released her; Rogue's hand came up…but this time the glove had been removed and Rogue was the one with the hand rapped around someone else's neck. The psyches took advantage of this opportunity for more power; they swelled in it and took hold. The consciousness of Rogue's mind screamed as Carol's screaming began to fade as she grew faint in the Goth's grasp, but yet the subconscious – which was Rogue's psyches – still gripped although they could feel their owner weakening with the process. It would be a matter of moments before she lost complete control and the psyches would gain it and reek havoc as they often attempted to. It was only in situations like this when the chance finally arose and they never took it lightly.

That was when something barged into the women: knocking the unconscious/dying Carol onto the ground as Rogue smacked into it too: her mind failing in its final attempt at control. But as Rogue's eyes snapped open with an intense fire burning brightly, Lexa knew what had occurred in her psychic mind and with a swiftness neither Wanda nor Kitty had witnessed before, she knocked her friend out cold. For the better good.

VvV End of Flashback VvV

The control Carol took over Rogue's mind was enough to teach the girl a valuable lesson about team work, but still the girls were tracked down to Base 1; their chance at singular, personal missions snatched from their fingertips. Although a grudge was hard…that was until the girls discovered not only had Ms Marvel surprisingly survived the attack, but also Hydra had discovered her presence and now she was with them. In Lady Deathstrike's eyes they were all to blame and now it was Kitty's chance to prove herself: as Wanda had previously done.

She would not fail. Her life was on the line and she would prove it worthy.

So when she spotted a glimpse of fireworks nearby, her eyes shone as brightly as the – unnoticed – fireworks had: unheard by the crowd due to the loud music and unnoticed by many because of the corner the girl had tripped into, Kitty took the opportunity and investigated. No surprise that the girl had tripped up – it seemed Jubilation had always been a careless girl and it seemed she was as clumsy as ever. The fireworks were purely accidental, but Kitty couldn't be more grateful and she advanced with the grace of her mutant nickname.

Hardly anyone noticed the mutant: gliding like a shadow through the crowds until before long she had reached the same corner in which her target had fallen…but _'project Marvel'_ had disappeared. However, as Kitty's eyes turned, Jubilation was spotted nearby being whispered to anxiously by Ray – her romantic interest – who had also sent he fireworks. Smirking as an idea formed and began to develop, Kitty headed directly towards them, after seeing the fact that Jubilee was heading towards the toilets; her head bowed in shame.

But before Kitty had even made her full advance…before she had even managed to get anywhere near her target a hand reached out and grabbed Jubilee's shoulder. One that turned the girl it had hold of to face two people: two certain people Shadowcat was _not_ informed would be here tonight. Her eyes flickered around the club and the more they roamed the more her sparkling orbs landed on people dressed in certain outfits she noticed, and that only meant one thing.

Picking up her phone, Kitty pressed 3 and it quick-dialled a certain number, which was picked up almost instantly. "The X-men are here."

End of Chapter

OOH! Kitty wasn't expecting that now was she?! No she wasn't! OMG! Her mission had gone entirely wrong, but what will she do to resolve the problem? And who did she call! Mutant-busters? Lol! Hehehe…who do you think…Rogue/Wanda/Lexa/Lorna or Betsy; which one do you think would be contacted in a time of need? And which of the X-men are there…will she come face to face with any of them? And will she recognise them after all of these years_? What do you think!_ .x.Thrills.x.


	19. xxx Kitty’s Mission xxx

SORRY FOR THE LATENESS OF THE UPDATE! Ok, I just want to make everything absolutely clear: Remy, John, Ray, Jubilee and Amara and some other people went to the club, but none of the guys who had planned to go know about 'the mutant after Jubilee.' No one knows it is Kitty either, because Sage didn't tell. The X-men who Kitty spotted were ones that Xavier sent _after_ Sage informed about 'the mutant' (Kitty) after Jubes, so no one who originally went to the club knew about the Xmen coming and they get quite a shock :D enjoy this little chapter of mischief!

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

Written letters or notes are underlined

_"Telepathic thoughts and the other line of the phone is in Italics and speech marks _"

Chapter 19

VvV Kitty's Mission: Shadowcat shows her Depth VvV

**_The Club; 11:00pm_**

Stepping back into the corner – delving her into the depths of the shadows – Shadowcat's eyes narrowed as she looked all around herself. There were six of them dressed in their typical outfits and searching…searching no doubt for her, Kitty soon realised as she watched people being ushered out of the club for their own protection.

She turned back to her mobile. "Six…yes, they're emptying the club…what? And attract attention? …I don't think so…but…well totally…" Kitty scowled, "I have to get her or else-" listening to the woman on the other side of the phone, Shadowcat blessed her developed skill for hiding in the shadows as an X-man's eyes searched the area. "Alright…yes, just be ready…no it went but someone was supposed to bring my car…they did? …Excellent! I'm so outta here." Kitty hung up and then made to walk stealthily towards the exit but froze when the same X-man searched her corner again – he had noticed something.

"_Mr Logan_?" She whispered the name confusedly as the mutant noticed something familiar about the man and then Shadowcat lowered her head, hiding it in the depths of her hood; he could _not_ see her face. The girls were all supposed to keep their new identities secret, including their appearance. _Especially_ from the Xmen.

So when he nudged a white haired, cloaked X-men by his side, Kitty gasped as the person she suspected to be Wolverine pointed out her corner to a much maturer, different looking Storm – recognisable only by her outstanding hair. Shadowcat had to get them off of her scent and then the perfect idea came to mind. Knowing the blueprints of this club, Kitty knew a toilet was directly behind and with this thought in mind the young woman phased through the wall.

With the commotion of the music and dancing, Wolverine had turned as somebody pushed him accidentally into Storm, and they never saw Kitty phasing. As neither did the weather witch. So when the two X-men turned back to the corner, they just saw an empty space.

In the men's loos it wasn't the same case and when turned, they came face to face with a figure who hadn't been there before.

Blatantly ignoring the staring eyes, Kitty walked from the room through the exit door into an opening that had a door that would no doubt lead back into the main part club. But here Shadowcat stayed: undisturbed by anyone as two voices spoke directly by the other side of the door leading to the club.

_**Other side of the Club**_

"We have to get you guys outta here Ray."

"What the hell are you on about Berto?"

Smirking, Kitty listened further, "this mutant is here…she's after Jubes."

"**What**?"

"Shut _up._ We have to get you guys out; this girl – Sage or whatever it was – she knows Xavier. He said that she works from some organisation but won't tell him which and he won't pry…she said that a mutant was coming after Jubilee tonight to take her for information about the whereabouts of Carol Danvers. So he asked how she knew: apparently she's a double spy, she worked as a spy for her team and spied on us but really that was a cover up for her spying on the organisation."

Staring wide-eyed at the door, Kitty took this information into mind and then narrowed her eyes, 'that bitch will pay for giving away my mission.' But then her scowl lightened as she listened on the next words, "we have to get you guys out of here without that mutant knowing: we don't know what they do. Sage wouldn't tell the professor anything about the mutant because she couldn't betray her team or the mutant…it wasn't in her heart to do it. We don't know who the mutant is or what they can do so we've got to get outta here now!"

Recollecting the old Ray, Kitty could picture him objecting to this and his next statement confirmed this, causing her eyes to twinkle in amusement beneath her hood. "Why don't we fight this mutant? Teach them a thing or two?"

"That's what Storm, Wolverine, Cyclops and Lance are here to do; the rest of us are here to get you guys out. This is to protect Jubilee!"

Unsurprisingly, Ray silence at this and Kitty knew Roberto would be persuading him to leave, so – once she had confirmed that it was their footsteps echoing away – the mutant decided it was her time to act.

If faced with the four mentioned X-men, Shadowcat would have no chance with them combined, but Wolverine would see her the moment she stepped into the main part of the club. 'Damn his mutant abilities…'

It was time to make a decision so Kitty made the best choice optional, "I totally need a diversion…" and with that Shadowcat's eyes widened and, peeking out of the men's toilets momentarily, her hidden eyes rested on the speakers that were still blasting music.

Tons of people were ranged all over the club…yet the crowd around the speakers would give the mutant enough coverage and would cause enough commotion for ample cover for Shadowcat to phase out. Consideration of how to get to the speakers caused the shadow dweller to close the door again before an idea began to form in her mind. The trouble the speakers would cause would give long enough to get to the entrance of this club to the car.

It was perfect and the fact that Wolverine had once again spotted the woman didn't make Kitty worried at all, she even had the guts to stare him in the eye. Luckily no recognition flashed through Logan's eyes, and when he tapped Storm on the shoulder, Kitty had already made her move and was phasing her way through the crowds.

_**Near the Speakers**_

Scott held a finger to his ear and pressed a button as a voice attempted to crackle through. Permitting the sound to be heard, the leader listened to his elder and nodded even though Logan couldn't see it. "Got that," he replied, still nodding. And then Cyclop's eyes (A/N. Notice the Oxy-moron, 'Cyclops Eye**s**'! Oh yes, I so ROCK at English! LOL) widened when they fell on a flowing fold of black cloak. "I have them."

But before the man could even make a move, the cloaked figure was in front of him and Scott stared in shock at it.

The hood was bowed. The body was enclosed. The figure dropped. In one swift motion the mutant he was looking for had dropped their hands on the floor for support and had swept out Scott's legs with a single foot.

That was when the commotion began. As Cyclops fell back onto an innocent bystander they fell face first into their dance-partner, who flung her arms out wide and knocked two other people down. A process happened much like dominoes and Shadowcat stood back up, raising an eyebrow in admiration at her work, nodding in time to the beat as **Franz Ferdinand's** – **Take me Out** began to blast rhythm to all corners of the club. But as the beat began to get jagged, Kitty turned away with a smirk, walking slowly towards the entrance of the club as the music faded from existence with a loud crash.

The domino of people had taken out the speakers. And the speakers were gigantic.

Wires landed in all the wrong places and it only took two to connect with their opposition before a fire lit up. A fire that quickly consumed the speakers: people were in panic and no matter how hard Logan searched for the culprit not even his trained eyes could detect Kitty.

But someone else had spotted her calm movement, and that someone was now blocking the woman's path.

_Avalanche_.

Wide with fear of how to take this situation and at how calm his opposition seemed to be – Kitty thanked everything that he couldn't see her panicked eyes – Avalanche took a fighting stance several metres away from his opponent. But someone shoved roughly through the both of them and distracted Lance so much that before he could move, Shadowcat was already half way across the club and was heading in a different direction: she would find her own exit.

Turning back once to glance at the Xman, Kitty frowned underneath her hood and cursed the darkness that had consumed the club, because when the speakers had fallen, they had caused a crash in the entire electricity system. Unable to make out the appearance of her opponent, Kitty knew who it was by instinct…not to mention the typical helmet that Avalanche still donned – she could make it out by his silhouette, which still slightly resembled the old Lance Alvers she once knew. It looked like the Xmen had new partners in their business. Kitty just wished she could have seen him.

And _Lance_ wished he could have seen _her_; Lance's gut was telling him that the mutant was Kitty by the painful feeling in his heart, but she was dead and gone…or so the man thought…until his eyes saw directly something only _Kitty_ could ever do…

The mutant ran clear through the wall. They were a phaser…and if Lance thought about it, their silhouette was around the same height Kitty would be by now.

To make sure, Lance followed after the mutant that had by now disappeared and ran up to the wall, pressing his arms against the surface. Maybe he had made a mistake? There was no mistaking this; it wasn't a trick…the mutant had phased. The mutant was a phaser. The mutant was Kitty.

Fresh in his mind, this thought caught the old, rebellious side in Avalanche to make up his mind too quickly to think about consequences. Squinting his eyes, in no time a hole had taken the place of Kitty's wall and Lance ran through it, ignoring as Cyclops let out a yell when the hole caused a crack to form in the ceiling…raining rubble on the leader.

Unable to spot the cloak in the crowd of people, Lance pushed through everyone in the way until he reached his jeep; ignoring the protesting crowds of people. Jumping up onto his roofless jeep gave Lance a clear sight of the roads around, but swarms of confused people were causing havoc and no one would be able to escape this in a car…apart from Kitty.

That very thought ran through Lance's head as he heard the revving of a sport's car, and a deep violet, Lotus Elise shot into view. In no time the car had cleared the crowds by phasing through everyone of them, much to people's panic; but Avalanche didn't have time for innocent bystanders and Shadowcat wasn't the only one with useful powers.

Glad that the club wasn't in the major depths of Bayville city, Lance thanked everything he knew it was in a remote area so there weren't even more people. After ignoring Pietro's yells at him as the speedster attempted to shove through the crowds, Lance concentrated hard and thrust his clenched fist into the air before starting his jeep. A massive ramp-like earth mound was created with this motion and Lance sped up it, clearing the crowds of people around him in a single jump before landing on an empty spot of road. He swerved and pushed at the steering wheel to gain control of his car, but before long Avalanche was in command of his jeep – the jeep was used to this treatment after years of this.

The chase began.

_**Back at the Club**_

Reassuring the people around her with a helpful smile, Jean assisted people safely out of the club only to be met with a frantic Pietro: the man hadn't been quite sure what to do…Lance was unpredictable. And nowadays when he did things like creating a huge earth mound in the middle of nowhere for no known reason, Lance wasn't one to be questioned, or stopped.

"Whatdowedo?Thebastardjustdidthat!" Jean managed to understand Pietro's hasty hand gesture and eyed the mound of earth understanding this involved Avalanche before trying to understand what the hell the speedster was saying. Speedy talk from Quicksilver himself was _not_ understandable. "God,Ican'tstickaroundtalking,we'vegottagofollowLanceandyou'retheonlyonewhocankeepupwithmesolet'sgo!"

Opening her mouth to protest as Pietro took off, Jean looked astonished and went with her instinct. Things like this had happened in the past and Jean had only been able to understand that Pietro wanted the woman to follow him after several minutes of playback of the lightning man's words in her mind. So this time, she threw hell to the wind and followed after him. With a sprint start up the mound, Jean jumped off the other side, ignoring Scott's panicked yells and disappeared behind the mound.

Running up Avalanche's creation, Scott was glad Logan had followed him when the older man caught Scott before he fell down the cliff-like other side, and they both watched Jean speeding off in flight after Quicksilver. He was really proving his name's worth today as the man sped off down the road and round a corner, with Jean following out of sight.

_**A couple of Minutes earlier on the Chase**_

Pitch black was the sky, with star like pebbles misty due to dreary clouds casting poor light over Lance's vision. The road he sped along was only a dark grey strip in the darkness; the only way to fully define it was by the green strips of grass that glinted in the moonlight by the drops of recent rain. And the only other way to define it was by the car that sped along the empty path, glinting maliciously in the moonlight.

"Come on baby," comforting words didn't speed Lance's car along, but they certainly made Lance feel better as his jeep raced after it's victim, and suddenly the Lotus slowed down before shooting around a corner with a squeal of exhausted tires.

The tires may have been tired, but the owner wasn't and Kitty's keen eye soon spotted her escape once she had veered around a second corner: a silhouette was waiting for her. Knowing what to do, the woman sped around a third corner as the sounds of Lance's jeep got closer.

He was on target.

Lance followed Kitty around the corner only to see the back of her car hastily dashing around another corner. Following was the only option; Lance had to see her…he just wanted to talk to Kitty. But the man would never get the chance – at least not tonight.

Pursuing his target around the second corner, Lance suddenly shot forward in his seat as the car stopped by itself with a squeal of brakes, for no apparent reason. Admiringly, the once rebellious boy gazed down at his seatbelt; glad he had got into the habit of wearing one. But after gazing at his luck, Lance glanced around for the source of his sudden halt; Avalanche's muddy orbs spotting a figure in the air.

The silhouette floated, a couple of metres away and several above the man, enshrouded in darkness but as Lance watched he could make out as the woman – it seemed by their long, flowing hair and their voluptuous, yet very muscly figure – lifted a single hand with the fist clenched tightly.

Without warning and very abruptly, the woman's hand suddenly burst open. Lance was only able to make out the open-palm facing him before a wave of particles was thrust through the air towards him. Knowing he had seen that somewhere before, Lance had a split second to contemplate the meaning of this before his car was blasted backwards into the building behind. With Avalanche still strapped 'safely' in.

The woman floating in the air smirked proudly and turned from her victim and the destroyed building.

_**Meanwhile in the building**_

Moaning in pain, Lance pushed rubble off of himself, coughing and spluttering as more tumbled down onto his exhausted body, situated over by the wall. The strap of his seatbelt had snapped, and Lance couldn't thank it enough for doing so: his precious jeep was upside down and the top half would have crushed him if Lance had still been inside. Curiously looking around, Lance noted his whereabouts and came to the conclusion he was in a warehouse of sorts…he was glad of that and was twice as glad that he was used to being buried by rubble…whether or not it was actually his own.

_Avalanche_ was his name after all. And – mentioning names – the trapped man heard his own being called and replied back with one. "Quicksilver?" tired and feeble, Lance's voice only travelled so far but luck was with him. Jean Grey turned at the sound of Lance's voice and gave him an amused smile before calling down to Pietro.

Floating towards Lance just as the speedster burst through the door into the destroyed room, Jean raised her hands and laughed. "Let's get you out of there shall we?"

_**Around the Corner**_

Trembling uncontrollably, Kitty's hands grasped the steering wheel tighter and the knuckles whitened with strain. Flashes of people's faces raced through the young woman's mind and she clenched her teeth tightly whilst memories of childhood cheer and cherish played in her mind. And then that day…when she changed it all.

Was the separation and division…really worth this? Was the pain she had to go through then worth the continuing pain that Katherine Pryde felt now as a woman growing up? All this life had ever given Kitty was pain…

But as a hand gently brushed back the hood from Shadowcat's pale face and revealed Kitty, the girl's eyes fell on her mentor and the woman inside came to realisation. That was a lie: here Kitty had felt security and a feeling of want. She was loved by those closest to her, unconditionally. Seeing the concerned eyes of her mentor showed the woman that, and Kitty smiled to show she was alright.

Landing beside the girl as Lorna slid into her seat, the woman patted Kitty gently on the shoulder; unsure of what else to do, "hot chocolate when we get home then?"

Kitty's reassured, light laugh made both women feel better and she turned away without a second thought to the Kitty she had left behind as Lorna shut her door with a

**SLAM!**

Pain coursed through her body as it was forcefully flung into a wall, yet the whimpering she wished to emit stayed down in her soul. Sage wouldn't let weakness show. Fear was a thing of the past…fear was for Tessa, not for _Sage_. '_Be brave_…'

The echoing whispering memory of Sage's friend, Charles Xavier…her one helper through time's of need, pursed the woman's lips tighter and Betsy Braddock deceased in her assault. "**TALK**!" Viciously, Psylocke tried again: throwing Sage to the wall and pinning the shorter tomboy off of the ground so her feet were dangling and her collar was holding her. "How can you **_betray_** Kitty like that and _not! **TALK**_!" Venomous were Betsy's words, yet they struck no fear in Sage. The mutant's had often worked together in interrogation.

Sage had taught Betsy all she was doing now and she reminded the girl so by complimenting Betsy as the woman threw her elder to the ground, "you've certainly taken in what I taught. I always knew you should have stayed with me and not gone to Lorna…"

"Don't even **compare** yourself to Lorna!" At these viciously replied words, the woman found herself being picked up and thrust against the wall, pinned by her collar again.

She continued anyway, "but Yuriko was suspicious…she was always suspicious of me…creeping off at night as I did…but Yuriko never liked to lose, or admit she had lost one of her devoted _servants_."

"Oh god," shaking her head, Betsy released Sage and ran a hand through her hair. "Why do you have to do this? You can't call her by her _first_ name…that's one of the first _rules_!"

"You listened to me then?"

"Tessa…"

"_Sage_. ' The interrogated mutant is always called by his or her alias,'" the words sounded as though they were being repeated from a rule book, and Betsy knew they were but she chose to ignore the rules.

"Oh Tessa…you know what I'll have to do with you…"

Turning away from the woman she once mentored, Sage sighed, "I betrayed her, and _her **only**_. She has the right to decide my fate."

"You know what it will be."

"Her and Rogue are close. It is inevitable. But to Kitty I have to go: she shall decide my fate after I attempted to decide hers."

Betsy shook her head at these words and tears formed in her eyes; she had once admired this woman in a mother and daughter relationship, "but I…"

"It isn't your choice Betsy." Glancing to the floor as the younger woman left the room with only a sorrowful glance back as an apology, Sage sighed, nodding to herself when the door closed behind Betsy.

"No fear Tessa girl…you did good…if I'll be doomed…then I'll _damn_ well be doomed with at least _one_ good name in this world."

Travelling to Xavier as he sat in his mansion, reporting back to the Xmen, Sage's last words directed to him caused Charles's eyes to lower sorrowfully whilst his student's looked up to him questioningly. All he could reply with was a single sentence; "we are all doomed Tessa, my dear…to _fate_."

**End of Chapter**

OOH! No…looks like Tessa's doomed huh? And poor Kitty; having second thoughts on her new life there eh? And not a very successful mission either, not to mention the bad LANCITTY…ah well. And as for the person she phoned it was LORNA! I don't think _anyone_ guessed **LORNA**! I am SO sorry for the lateness of the update! And I hope the chapter makes up for it! I hope you enjoyed! Please review people, sorry for the wait! .x.Thriller.x.


	20. Doomed to Fate

Hey! Thank you to everyone for your reviews; they were all SO positive and I enjoyed them so much! So thanks! A tiny bit of drama in this chapter: Tessa's fate is revealed. A life of freedom? Or a life of imprisonment in the worst form? Only Kitty can decide! CHAPTER 20! WOOH!

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

Written letters or notes are underlined

_"Telepathic thoughts and the other line of the phone is in Italics and speech marks _" 

Chapter 20

VvV Doomed to Fate VvV

_**Thursday, Le Diable Noirs Mansion, Danger Room; 2:20pm **_

**BANG**

Landing her clean in the face, the hit caused Sage to take a step back; exhaustion was taking over.

**SMACK**

And another was lain straight in the woman's stomach, sinking in due to the force before a second fist took it's place, only to be followed with the first…and the second…and the first…pain hitting the woman in repetition. But before she could get used to the feeling of hurt, Sage had a fist pummelled again and again and again into her shoulder…arm…head…chest.

Pain was swelling all over the mutant's body. Already, bruises were forming on the skin. But the woman punishing Sage gave no resistance and this was watched over with pride, although above them, a form of jealousy was frowning at the breathless, pained expression on Sage's face.

_**In the Viewing Area**_

"That should be meh…" jealously, Rogue watched as Sage's face was bombarded with fist after fist. "Ah haven't had a toy in ages."

Smirking wasn't unusual for Lexa; she loved this type of thing…although causing the pain was so much better than watching it, she had to agree.

Wanda however was focussing more on the skill of the punches and she nodded; impressed as a roundhouse kick was landed in Sage's stomach that sent the woman falling to the ground. "That's because you get rid of them too quickly."

_**Down in the Danger Room**_

Wiping her mouth did nothing to stem the blood that continued to spill out of the cut and Sage simply let it fall, taking no notice of the fact she was dripping it all over the floor whilst she stood again, much to her abuser's amusement.

"Had enough? Cuz I'm like, _so_ not done with you," Kitty laughed and landed her clenched fist in Sage's face. Proudly nodding when the area of assault began to colour almost immediately, the youngest woman frowned wisely. "You look like your in a bit of pain," she raised her fist. "Let me help you," and with those words, Kitty aimed her fist and thumped Tessa on the other side of her face, ignoring the way Sage cringed in pain; defying a whimper. "Levelled out the pain huh?"

All the ex-assassin could do was to mock Kitty with her reply, "couldn't do it slightly down a bit could you?" Kitty shook her head with a smirk and performed Sage's requests. "What do you call that?" Sage croaked through the that pain she now felt in her face, "a tap? I wanted a proper punch…I have a bit of an itch you see…"

Landing a harder, more violent punch in the directed place, Kitty turned slightly from Sage and walked away a bit, eyeing the woman who was now clutching her face in pain on the floor…yet allowing herself a hollow laugh.

"I'll tell you what…I think I have a proposition for you…" Kitty spoke loudly and more to the room than specifically to the woman cradling her face as Sage listened on. "I'm brutally kicking our ass…you know I am…and I don't even think you're even trying to resist the pain, so I'm gonna give you a chance." Smirking, Kitty looked Sage up and down and made up her mind.

"I'll give you a game of 'Cat and Mouse.' I have twenty minutes to find you in a certain arena of my choice." Eyes connecting with Sage's curious ones as the ex-assassin looked up, Kitty's had a certain coldness to them. "And when I find you, I knock you unconscious. That's the rules of the game. And it may sound easy, but it'll be _powerless_; so no telepathy to track me this time – we'll be testing your sheer skill. If, Sage, you _don't_ fall unconscious in the twenty minutes…you win your freedom." Sage looked up, and opened her mouth. "What's the catch, you ask? Well, the only catch is if you fail…"

"And…?"

Ignoring the question to Sage's other fate, Kitty continued pretending nothing had been said, "yet if you win you walk away a free woman…with no questioning, because it is _my_ choice and mine alone to make. But-"

"Why the hell do you want to be so generous to me…I screwed up your mission and –"

"Because I'm a fair girl I suppose." Frowning, it seemed as though Kitty was making up her mind and doing so, the girl nodded, "but I'm not all that fair…you walk away if you win. But if you fail…" the woman spoke to the room in general, knowing that the mutant she was about to mention was listening. "Well, I know Rogue has been looking for a new play toy…and you would make a lovely early birthday present."

And with that Sage's heart turned cold and her hope subsided to fear – Kitty could tell by the blank expression that had passed over the mutant's face.

"Think about the offer Sage. Otherwise…if you don't accept, I could always hand you back to Lady Deathstrike."

Knowing Sage had already made up her mind, with this comment, Kitty turned away and pressed a button on her watch; but before she left in a flash of light Shadowcat spoke again with her back turned to the listener. "You can catch up on your rest and we will see your verdict tomorrow."

_**Later**_

As Kitty left the medical room ten minutes later with praising for her fairness from Lorna, the young woman was met with three curious faces and she could only think of one thing to say to them. "I'm true to my word. If she wants to play then she'll play. If she survives…then Sage gets to walk free. If not…" Kitty glanced at Rogue, but her smirk didn't reach her eyes…they were somehow cold and unforgiving, as though Kitty wasn't sure of herself about this decision. "If not…then happy birthday."

Rogue, Betsy and Wanda simply watched Kitty walk away and Lexa looked questioningly at all three as she passed the youngest woman on the way down the stairs whilst Kitty made her way up in thought. In unison, all three women shook their heads, signalling for Lexa not to ask.

VvVvVvV

_**Friday, Danger Room; 4:50pm**_

"Yes."

The first word spoken between the two as Kitty laid her eyes on Tessa.

It was the only option with a bit of hope in it; if sent back to her ex-Mistress…the woman would never see the light of day again. Sage would rather take her risk with Kitty and face off Rogue than go back there. And with _Rogue_ as a possible consequence, that was saying not only something, but a _lot_.

High up above them, Lexa was smirking, Wanda was frowning and Rogue's expression was…one of concentration. "_Game ohn_."

Sage found herself disappearing from Kitty's side after accepting the woman's offer and looked up only to encounter a jungle splayed out before her.

The jungle simulator.

It was a forbidding assault course; quite a few who trained in this place never saw the light of day again. It may have only been a simulator but there were things and creatures in here that made the place seem more realistic than not. Fear countered the mutant's determination as Sage took in the high trees that rustled with unseen, unknown life and movement, swaying in a wind that Sage couldn't feel.

The moment she stepped onto the square would be the beginning of her fate.

That small square shaped platform resembled the start of the maze. It would enclose Kitty and Tessa in a bubble – preventing escape and bringing them into another reality. Tessa would feel the wind, and she would discover what the movement really was.

Taking her fate literally in her stride, the doomed woman stepped onto the square and the jungle burst into life. Turning her head sharply as movement from behind startled the woman, Sage watched the bubble as it formed; and before long it was creeping up in a giant dome around her and around her opponent – Shadowcat. With a clanking noise, Sage knew that the dome had encased them both in its world, the tell tale shiver down her spine signalling the removals of all powers. However no matter how hard Tessa looked, the mutant could not see the roof of the dome due to the trees that began to devour her in a darkness that would hopefully last for the full twenty minutes as a timer clicked down to start this time.

"**THREE**"

The voice commonly used in the lift rang out over the simulation grounds and in the viewing area. As it spoke out "**TWO**" Rogue raised from her seat and eyed both mutant's below. Fear sparking a frown from the girl – even Kitty was in danger in this Arena.

"**ONE**"

Now the game was _really_ on as a blasting horn sounded throughout the arena.

Eyeing her watch far above the jungle, Rogue frowned; "twenty minutes to seal her fate."

"I'm betting it'll finish before it even gets to quarter past," at glances from Wanda and Rogue, Lexa frowned, "what were those looks for?!"

Wanda sighed and then looked at her watch, "that gives Kitty ten minutes – they started at exactly 5:05, but she'll want to do this right. I can guarantee she won't be finished before twenty past. Her times up at 5:25. It might not even finish until about a minute before then…"

VvVvVvV

_**X-Mansion, Xavier's Office; 5:10pm**_

"So he'll just want to interview the children; ask that they're happy and have everything they need. The Brotherhood boys may cause trouble and I'm gonna guess Bobby will do something stupid – he's been showing off to Tabby lately." Frowning as nothing he said got a single response, Logan raised both eyebrows and ignored the fact Ororo was standing directly behind him. "But that's no surprise, he openly likes to fuck her on the school grounds so the inspector will be scared off before he gets a chance to come into the school. And even if he does I'm sure I could gut him. The fact you're not even listening obviously means a sign that I could do it and you couldn't stop me."

"_Logan_," turning to face Ororo's unimpressed expression, Logan sighed.

"If Charles would _listen_-"

"Never underestimate a telepath Logan," ignoring as he sensed Logan jumping in shock – although a smile formed on his face in amusement – Charles continued staring out of the window. Soon the smile faded, as they commonly did after the incident with Jubilee and Tessa. Blandly he spoke, smiles flickering every now and then onto Charles's face. "The interview will be fine – both Jean and Scott will be entrusted to make sure people behave themselves."

At this Ororo smiled, "I had a chat this morning and they both said it was fine."

"Good. Thank you Ororo. But Logan you shouldn't be so judgmental of the boys – their behaviour has vastly improved and they're even beginning to settle after these years – and please don't use the term Brotherhood terms so disgustedly; they are X-men now. Bobby will be watched by you and please don't use such obscenities about the pupils; I know it _almost_ happened before but don't bring up the subject of Bobby and Tabitha _again_."

"And don't worry Charles," Ororo smiled, "I'll keep Logan under check – we'll be providing an example simulation for the inspector. It's necessary for John and Remy anyway after their little escapade."

Smirking as he spoke, Logan's eyes lit up, "and I'm sure I can get out of them why they were out so late."

"Personal reasons as deep as those stay disclosed – and it must be very personal to them both for not even I am aware of their reason. But now I must ask for some privacy. Thank you both so much for your help: good evening."

Taking that as a sign to leave, both mentors did so, but Ororo paused and signalled for Logan to leave as she returned to Charles's side.

"Charles…" she enquired quietly

Nodding; knowing Ororo's question, Xavier stopped her. "Please. I shall be fine; I _must_ think. We have no further clues on this case and its starting to get to me," he nodded as Ororo agreed she'd been noticing that and sighed, "I apologise for my behaviour lately…"

"You're always in your study."

"Yes…and I apologise. Yet I must think. I shall appear tomorrow-"

"For the Inspector?"

"Yes…" he smiled, "and then I shall retire early, as I will do tonight."

Stepping into the room, Logan frowned, "you've been wearing yourself out Charles. I'm sure – by her description from you – that Tessa will be fine."

"I'm not so sure though…"

And that's when he felt it – as his telepathy searched for Tessa, he suddenly got a link. Barriers were down – nothing blocked her mind from him and Xavier was let in for the first time since he had started searching.

Agony soured into his mind and caused the man to cry out, falling from his chair as a burst of pain hit him squarely in the chest. Logan was there to catch him and held Charles as the man yelled in pain – reflecting every feeling as Tessa writhed in distress. And suddenly, feeling as though every limb on his body was on fire, it stopped and the pain turned to a dull ache, leaving gradually. The screaming slowed to a whimper and Charles watched in his mind as Tessa picked herself up from the ground.

Reality resumed and the eyes of Logan and Ororo fell upon him. Yet Charles was not fearful as they were, excitement surged through him – "a jungle!" excitedly he cried, "that's where she is!"

Logan and Ororo shared a look that distinctly said 'will nothing stop this man?'

Both knew the answer was a no.

VvVvVvV

_**Jungle Simulation, a couple**_ _**of minutes before**_

Eerily silent, the sounds of the jungle seemed to haunt her; Sage's mind filling with the imagination only a mutant could conjure up. Until suddenly, with a rustling of leaves on her left, the movement that was purely imagination appeared to be reality…it definitely moved and there was no questioning it.

Staring curiously to the plant as it shook, the leaves of the bush vibrating in anticipation, the woman took a fighting stance with her fists raised – eyes sparkling as adrenaline rushed the system from slight fear.

Five minutes without a fight…some things were too good to be true…

Filling her with pure fear, the roar blasted down into the depths of her ears as the creature exploded from it's hiding. On instinct, Kitty ducked, rolled and immediately took her place again – ready to fight as _her_ predator turned, facing the girl off with a low growl, signalling this territory was already claimed…and the tiger would fight for it.

Unluckily for Sage, the woman was tired and her reaction timing wasn't something the mutant had been focussing on much lately – her opponent landed straight on the woman's chest with force, bowling her over. But as soon as it came, the tiger ran off – encouraged with a push of Sage's feet as she kicked it off. Blood followed its path, dripping down Sage's knife…not to mention her side. But that was the woman's own blood: the point of impact had hit home and she clutched at the wound, her scream of pain and anguish filling the silence.

The woman fell to the ground and held the gash, nursing it before ripping her jacket. Tearing the bits into strips, she carefully administered pressure, her mouth open in a silent scream as both eyes clenched tight. Pain struck her but still Tessa put pressure on and, as she began to recover a tiny bit the woman tore another shred with a hand and her teeth, rapping it tight around the fabric on the wound, tying it in place like a belt.

Above her, Wanda watched the monitor following Sage with interest, frowning at the pain showing on her face as Sage picked herself from the ground, but Lexa was simply smiling, her laughter contained behind eyes filled to the brim with malice.

Compared, Kitty got off lightly. A vicious strike to the stomach was all she received…yet even that passed straight through without contact, unlike the jaguar's wound as it got a stab in the side in retaliation.

Watching with deep breaths as it ran off, Kitty's lips curled in a snarling smirk. "Fun, fun, fun…" was the only thing muttered before, turning tail, Shadowcat headed in the opposite direction – fighting was not prominent now…tracking was. And so she ran, leaving no trail behind as trees failed to be no obstacle thanks to intangibility.

But suddenly she stopped.

Narrowing, her eyes watched the figure swooping low over the river onto her side and Kitty smirked coldly – Sage had just ran straight into the girl without being aware of it…

_**A few minutes before**_

The pain had subsided, but fear was growing imminent…it looked like her attacked had recovered too, and the tiger was not happy about his opponent still being in the creature's territory. Knowing it was following her, Sage suddenly stopped running through the trees and brushed a few branches to the side, eyes widening as she took in a river.

"This place is well equipped…" she muttered before spotting a route across. The tree stood tall…tall enough to work but not to tall to scale. Slowly – very slowly with her impairment – the woman began to climb, and as she reached the top she found her balance, standing to angle the distance and route. Equipment was fine…the calculations were merely about encompassing the distance, height and how much rope was needed. But this was walking, talking computer and within no time everything was in place.

Bending with perfect balance on the branch, Sage placed her backpack – provided with the simulation – and pulled the cord open, dropping rope, several clips and her spare knife into the branch.

Before long, thanks to a few moments fiddling with the knife, rope and clips, the woman was ready.

Birds shot from the tree as it quivered – the knife's handle sticking out, thrown with precision directly in the place required – the rope attached. In no time Sage herself was attached, and Shadowcat watched in curiosity as the woman scaled the river, dangling beneath the rope as the clip she gripped slid Sage in a perfect path to the other side and out of Kitty's sight. But the damage was done – Sage had been spotted and it was a matter of Shadowcat catching up…something the intangible woman had no problem with…

_**Up in the tree; less than five minutes to go**_

Unsurely, Sage glanced around from her branch with a frown. "Shit…" physically she was growing tired, namely after her attack, but mentally the mutant's mind was as sharp as it could ever be. Telepaths train their body and mind together…but the more powerful train each separately, to _work_ separately. Exhaustion may take the body, but this livens the soul: when one defence falls another must take its place. Yet Sage could feel herself struggling.

This was a powerless zone and with her body in this state, Sage's mind was weakened – her defences were failing the mutant at a point of time in which she needed them most.

Kitty would find Sage…it was only a matter of time…camouflage was a blessing in disguise, literally: jungles could only give so much cover though, and for Sage, it wasn't enough.

Watching her from a distance, two eyes were following the powerless mutant's every move.

_**Up in the Viewing Area**_

Perking a single eyebrow, Rogue turned to Wanda. "What's taking her so long? Ah can onlah be made ta wait fohr so long!"

Lexa could only laugh on Rogue's other side before admiring as Sage jumped from the tree, landing on her feet with precision before running in a new direction. "She's lulling her into a false sense of security," was the reply.

_**Down in the Simulation**_

Breathing was becoming difficult with all of the running…she stopped doing so. To catch it again she pressed both hands against a tree but, regaining her composure and battle mode, Sage quickly turned her back to the bark and peered around. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty…" reassurance was the only reason for her whispering and it calmed the woman when no reply was received.

She was becoming too sure of herself…the lack of a reply should have unnerved Sage, but the untrained mind of Tessa was beginning to persuade Sage's thoughts to security. This feeling was double when a bleeping sound came form her wrist and – after calming from the momentary panic at the startling noise – Sage worked out where the noise had come from.

"Twenty…"

"...Seconds!" read Rogue out loud, frowning as the time began to count down. Slamming her fist into her chair before rising in anger, Rogue moved to the screens and faced Kitty's image, viewed from the following camera. "What tha hell is she doing jus' sitting there!"

Pushing on Rogue's shoulder, Lexa's hand forced her to seat herself, "wait and watch…just watch…"

_**Down in the Simulation**_

Breathing rate increased. Panic decreased. Joy was relived as the mutant watched the numbers ticking down. Time was almost up, and as the last ten seconds appeared, Sage was reassured enough to count the numbers that signalled the fate of the woman's life. Tessa's secure mind told her that she was going to live, and Sage couldn't be happier at the feeling that raced through her bones – because freedom was literally seconds away. After all of those years trapped in service to Lady Deathstrike and the one deed that Sage always assumed would be the destruction of her life was granting her freedom. Nothing could have made a person more exhilarated than the feeling that one would soon be free from all of the torture.

Sure it wasn't over yet – constantly she would have to watch her back for the form of her old master, but Sage couldn't care less…she'd escaped Lady Deathstrike and had broke loose from the daunting thoughts of Rogue's clutches. Tears actually began to well as Sage watched the watch counting to her freedom – everything would be alright…she'd be _free_

"Seven…"

But two eyes were watching her…the woman had lost her fear but she should be feeling it more so right now.

"Six…"

Sage was unaware of her present threat…her exhilaration had impaired the woman's computer logic upon which her mind was built…without it she'd fall apart…

"Five…"

that was it – no more words, no more numbers befell the woman's mouth. Above her in the tree, only visible to those watching the screen, Kitty grabbed the branch she was perched on and pushed off from it…

Shadowcat's foot hit Sage's face with such force that the mutant didn't even have time to count to four…

Everything was over.

Viciously sneering at her unconscious victim, Kitty smirked when both clocks beeped in sink, a voice booming out over the Simulation as it began to fade

"ZERO"

Facing the sky above as it began to glow, Kitty managed to speak before disappearing in a shine of light; "happy birthday Rogue…"

End of Chapter 

I finally got there. Be honest, how many of you thought Sage would make it out? Probably not a lot…it would ruin some of my plot, lol hope you enjoyed after that long wait! I hope that will never happen again, but just to warn you I have a whole month of GCSE exams lined up so don't get hopeful! So sorry, but I hope that chapter was worth it…what ever will happen to Sage now?! .x.thriller.x.


	21. Weakened Defences

Bada-bing, bada-boom and it's chapter 21! Enjoy!

Key:

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

(…) Extra information

**Songs are in bold**

Written letters or notes are underlined

_"Telepathic thoughts and the other line of the phone is in Italics and speech marks_"

Chapter 21

VvV Weakened Defences VvV

Had she done the right thing?

Out of all of it, that was the only question continually springing to mind. Knowing the doubts were there hadn't taken long; Kitty had felt them in the seconds leading up to Sage's fate.

Tessa was just a woman like her, and in effect she was a mutant doing her job and just trying to do the right thing. Because when it came down to it, Sage _had_ been doing the right thing: when it comes down to good and evil, good only prevails because it has to. Due to the simple yet obvious fact that the good things to do is always the right thing to do…because the good side is always the side with the better outcome…

That meant the outcome Kitty had caused could only come out badly…altogether, deep down Shadowcat was even herself doubting the decision about what to do with Sage. Sending the mutant to her death was evil…how could it possibly have been anything else?

Kitty had done the wrong thing – she had truly submitted to her evil side and the only possible outcome couldn't be good…

Unless something changed…

Questions flitted though her mind, but only one did Kitty focus on:

Her defence that there were no wrongs was too weak now…Kitty had to admit that things weren't right anymore…

But was it too late to right the wrongs?

Even Kitty knew that question had a much deeper meaning…

_**Saturday evening, Le Diable Noirs Mansion, DR; 10:30pm**_

Four hours…that's how long the session had been going on for, deep down Kitty wished it would end but facially she played with a smirk as Lexa and the woman watched from above Rogue and Sage.

Tired, worn out, beaten and savagely tormented by words, threats and snide remarks, the last of Tessa's sanity that she had reserved in the back of her mind throughout the course of her life was gradually ebbing away. Standing this uniquely horrific form of torture took everything the woman had…but everything wasn't enough.

Rogue had broken through her mental barriers twice…plagued her mind with possible endings of the numerous lengthy sessions she would have to go through until the end…brought up memories that only otherwise would haunt the girl in her sleep. Watching each moment in her previous failure of a life and the fake life ahead of her was causing Tessa to break down. Physically, mentally weakened she prepared herself for a punch that Rogue tried to throw at her and to Sage's own shock the woman actually caught Rogue's fist only to learn of the fact that this was simply a feign.

The roundhouse kick was so brutal that it sent Rogue's opponent across half of the danger room and into a brick wall.

At the moment the two girls stood in a rural area, full of alleyways, hiding places, shadowed corners – a picturesque (?!) setting…not to mention dirty and foul with its stench of rotting garbage; altogether not a pleasant place.

And unluckily for Sage – as she found out whilst recovering from her attack – the simulation also came with its own built in thugs…whom apparently appeared to be on Rogue's side.

One bat in the stomach was enough. Unprepared, suffering and not strong enough to process the happenings quickly enough, the mutant's mind couldn't stop the beating from the robotic humans that it would have otherwise turned back on it's opponent.

Yet unlike Rogue, these mere human-formed robots were stupid and weren't aware of how long it could take for Sage to recover. They gave the woman a momentary breather and that was enough, in a split second Sage's mind was hacking away at itself, searching like a hurricane through file after file stored in the mutant's head. Finding what she required took about a second tops, processing the data took a millisecond and working out a strategic method was simple – make things up as you go along…Sage was strong with improvisation.

Unluckily for her attackers and luckily for the mutant, a similar incident had happened to one of the many people whose minds Sage had filtered through. Bullies were cowards who were in fact surprisingly weak when you fought back, and even though she had none of Pyro's feared firepower; the woman had a brain as quick, strong and powerful as the world's top computer – because that's exactly what Sage was as a mutant.

Catching the bat in her hand as it was brought down to her face was the first move…but that was all she could imitate: Pyro had used firepower to blast away _his_ opponents…yet her answer was simple. Quickly kicking the ground with one foot, the woman used the momentum to jump into the air and swung her other leg around, hitting one of them in the face. By quickly flipping from this movement using the momentum of her attack on the guy's – now broken – nose, Sage landed both feet on the top of another guy's head and jumped off of it back onto the ground. Completing her moves with a quick crouch to the ground, Sage spun her outstretched leg in a circle, taking out one guy before she stood up, turning from her fallen attacker back to the first two with her fists raised.

They made to run. However, Sage was too quick and brought one man falling to his knees as she wormed her way through his robotic mind – attacking the nerves to his machine-like legs. Pushing off from the ground, she used a roundhouse kick on him and the force was so great that the guy's robotic head was forced from its mechanical body and smashed into a wall.

Quickly filtering through her own mind as quickly as Quicksilver could run, Sage found her information, pressed a single fingertip to her head and with the data she had found her mind then began precisely hacking away at the computerised brain before her. Short-circuiting the robot was easy and Sage delighted in her brutal victory with a light smirk, taking in the headless, sparking and 'unconscious' robots.

Her joy lasted momentarily however when a figure leapt from a shadow, landing a kick in Sage's face and the woman found herself thrown into a wall by a force too powerful to be human. Rogue was back for more…

Vicious and unmerciful had always been Rogue's tactics very much like Tessa's. But there was a difference – whereas Sage could search into the minds of others and use _similar_ tactics and moves, Rogue _had_ other's minds and could use their _exact_ moves. It took longer for Rogue to find their powers and abilities in her mind because – unlike Sage's very methodical, computer-like telepathy – she only had simple telepathic abilities behind her, yet when she did the effects were disastrous – for her opponents.

However, unluckily for the woman, Sage was too quick for Rogue and jumped up, doing a forward flip to push herself off of her hands into a flying kick. As soon as she had moved however, Tessa had not noticed Rogue's eyes snapping shut to further her concentration, and by the time Sage was inches away the opened orbs of emeralds were focussed on Sage; narrowed in a vicious smirk.

Sage's foot sank into Rogue's face…

And came out the other side.

Laughing monstrously, the intangible Rogue ignored the leg still lodged halfway into her sneering face and swung her own leg into her opponent's gut backing it up with her own newly permanent power of super strength. This attack sent Tessa – legs and all – flying back into a wall: at the bottom of which she crumpled into a heap. Deeply breathing was an attempt for Sage to get her breath back before the next assault yet there wasn't anytime – when Sage looked up it was only to see Rogue's foot inches from her face.

Everybody in the vicinity heard the crack…and Rogue flipped backwards using the momentum of her attack to land on her feet a few metres away, marvelling over the amount of blood spilling continuously out of Sage's broken nose.

"Y'all ready ta talk?" Shallow, rasping breaths suddenly slowed and quietened at these words but Sage simply sat there looking up at Rogue whom grew impatient, "well?"

"Talk about what?"

Smirking, Rogue took a few steps forward and crouched down, "about your little friends…the Xmen." At her last two words, Rogue's face and tone of voice hardened until she was as cold and deadly as murder.

But Sage only feigned confusion, "what about them?"

"How much do they know? Forget that; how much does Jubilee know?" ignoring Rogue's own hurried talking, Sage closed her eyes to attempt to relax and simply replied with a shrug, so Rogue tried again, in a slower and more relaxed tone. "How much does she know, Sage? Where is Carol?" and when yet again Rogue got no answer, she grasped a chunk of the girl's short hair and pulled Sage's face to turn to her own. "Where. Is. Carol." Repeated Rogue through clenched teeth, yanking hard on the strands of hair to get her opponent to open her eyes.

Sage did so and also opened her mouth; in reply…sending a mouthful of saliva flying into Rogue angered face.

Temper. Rogue had lost control over her own and rage filled the woman's mind, voice and expression as she slammed Sage's face back into the wall behind.

"**WHERE IS CAROL!**"

VvVvVvV

_**Charles Xavier's Mansion for Gifted and Talented Youngsters**_

Charles Xavier himself sat at a new, large oak desk – a present given to him by the President of the United States himself; a man whom just yesterday had come to visit. Bringing the gift with him showed a sense of understanding and friendship between the two men, but instead of taking it as a present, Charles knew he had really accepted this as a peace offering.

'You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours,' and even Professor Xavier had not had to read the President's mind to know this was the exact meaning behind the obviously expensive item he now sat at.

The real message, if you keep the school happy – keep the mutants happy – then I'll keep you happy. Because that was the point of the meeting. An inspector came and examined the school, not only to make sure that it was in tip-top condition to still be eligible as a school – for now Xavier taught even the simplest subjects at home with the help of his mentors – but also to check standards of living. Making sure that the children were happy meant that the inspector could inform Xavier that he could write to every parent and let them know their children were content – accompanied by an official governmental stamp. And in return, this also meant that the Government expected the mutants to all be happy enough not to cause trouble.

The inspection was a success. Surprise, surprise.

Inspector Geoffrey's falling foul only of a small (?!) prank involving the stairs, crumble, apples, blackberries, custard and the Blob. Upon a very well thought of dare by Pietro, the Xmen walked into the foyer only to discover the human version of an apple and blackberry crumble.

Having cleaned Geoffrey up, made Pietro and Freddy apologise, Xavier had then done a little extra cleaning up and the situation was forgotten about – literally. A meeting with the President was straight after and he informed Xavier that the school passed with exceptional flying colours, upon which Xavier had thanked the man and showed him off. From this Charles had arranged a small meeting with Pietro and Freddy, cut short as a telepathic message was hurriedly sent to his brainwaves.

"We shall discuss this more tomorrow evening and I shall decide upon appropriate action to take…for now you are dismissed." And once both boys had left the room, Charles slowly and neatly positioned the items on his desk before – with a great sigh – he left the room, heading to a room that Jean seemed to have been haunting lately in her quest for information.

Jean looked up at the large screen in front of her and then nodded to Kurt, who excitedly scanned pictures on the computer screen that he was currently seated at. Before long though the teleporter had wheeled himself in his chair over to the second computer nearby and was expectantly, and rather anxiously, looking to Jean for further instruction as she surveyed the members of the room.

"Right then Kurt…lets get this over and done with. You've done your investigation no doubt?" Jean looked over at him with a smile as Kurt nodded enthusiastically back.

Chuckling proudly, Kurt continued to nod, "did it on ze day you set it. I vas vaiting (waiting) for you to do yours."

This caused a smile to frame Jean's face further and her eyes sparkled _almost_ as excitedly as Kurt's, although nobody could compare to Kurt's anxiousness in finding his sister and one of his greatest friends. "Let's get this show on the road," and with that Kurt wheeled back to the first computer and clicked the mouse, sending lots of familiar images onto the screen that Xavier, Ororo, Hank and even Logan – who had been persuaded to join – eyed. The latter's gaze was more suspicious than anything. "This is the image shown in our previous meeting of the 8 different organisations we have been looking at. Logan were you briefed on this?"

"I did it myself," Xavier answered for him when no reply was given.

"_Gut_." Kurt's German was obviously positive, as everyone could sense his happiness at this news: this meant he could get to know Jean's information even quicker…not even he knew of the telepaths news. "Due to zis recent attack on Jubilee I have managed to limit down ze companies under suspicion and have managed to eliminate zis _von_ (one)." Momentarily an image enlarged to fill up the main screen but then disappeared completely with the single click of a button, although Kurt gave everyone long enough to read the name of the company and to see the image of the base.

The fact Jean didn't even bother looking proved she did know of his discoveries and Kurt cursed his luck; you could never surprise telepaths.

However Xavier did at least try to appear as thought he was not aware of this news…but he failed.

"However," Jean spoke up and nodded to Kurt who searched through files and brought up an image, "I have managed to further eliminate _two_ companies thanks to the help of our dear friend Patsy. Or Sage as we now know." Scowling at the fact she had not been able to work this out herself, Jean continued, ignoring as once again the screens fuzzed as her anger elevated slightly. A picture of the spy as she was known to the Xmen – as Pietro's blood-haired girlfriend – came up next to a picture of her true identity, showed up side by side. "Searching through databases and certain minds that I have come across, I have managed to get rid of two more of the companies, which I have made sure for _certain_ have no connections whatsoever with the mutant Sage, leading our search to a final 6. It is in these six organisations that we will find the girls, yet it will be simple to limit this down: all we must do is keep watch for more peculiar mutant attacks."

Proudly looking around with a smirk, Jean received smiles from everyone, apart from Logan, who – upon reading his mind – she found out was still unbelieving they would ever find the girls again. And this fact is unsurprising as, when Kurt enlarged the second of Jean's two eliminated hopeful organisations, it produced an unfamiliar base to them all but one with a name that I am sure you are all aware of.

The telepath had just unknowingly made the biggest mistake of her life: she had taken _Le Diable Noirs_ out of the search…

Sage may have been captured because of one side by the hand of the other…but even in her last fighting moments, the assassin and friend of the Xmen still couldn't truly work out which side she was most loyal to. So instead of trying to figure out the impossible, she took pride on the fact that – X-man or _Diable Noir_ employee – she had been loyal to them both. Even in what she assumed to be her last moments in life, Sage was loyal to each side as she was taken by one team for the other…

VvVvVvV

"NO!" figures arose around her…taunting the girl…laughing…pointing…jeering. Cruel, unpitying; the faces were blurred but she could make out the sneers. "STOP IT!" Fearfully she clasped her head, falling down to her knees, yelling in pain and frustration as the people pushed at her, breaking her…breaking Tessa down until she collapsed on the floor.

VvVvVvV

_**Sunday Morning, Le Diable Noirs Mansion, DR; 2:00am**_

Panting in exhaustion as she watched the woman on the floor writhing in pain, screaming desperately in agony, Rogue scowled; snarling viciously. Once again she had pushed through Tessa's barrier and once again she had pulled back; allowing the woman to subconsciously reform it in her mind. Taking a lot out of Rogue, this sure did; fighting a mental barrier was hard work – almost like fighting to break someone's very defences in a physical hand-to-hand combat – but it was worse for the victim. Breaking into a powerful telepath's mind destroyed them because it broke past every telepathical defence that they had and their defences were connected to their bodies and minds as a whole.

Destroying a mental shield was like physically beating up a person until they were left with nothing left but their empty body…no soul…no life. And when repetitively done…well, to put it bluntly; if you did it enough times you could claim a telepaths life, just like if you fought someone too viciously it could kill them.

Sage was getting to that point and so Rogue stopped. She wasn't going to get rid of her play-toy just yet. Gaining information had taken ages and with what little she had got – pathetically useless information – Rogue knew that she still had a long way to go before she would be finished.

"So…" she tried again, casually kicking Sage in the face as she strolled past her so that the mutant fell back; splayed on the floor. Crouching by her head, Rogue held it, making her victim look into her sparkling, emerald eyes, "does Jubilee know where her dear cousin is?" wincing emitted from Sage's clenched teeth when Rogue dug her nails into the woman's scalp after a lack of response. "Then again…ah suppose it wouldn't matter if she did, now would it? Tha Xmen will have too tahght security ohn her ahn ah will not risk mahself simply fohr personal gain…"

"Personal-"

Hushing up as she realised she let the word slip questioningly out of her mouth, Sage suctioned her lips together and didn't speak another word. Rogue however filled in anyway; "mmm…mah attempt ta kill her went unsuccessful ahn…well, as y'all know Yuriko does not lahke failure. Potentially there is a possibility ta redeem mahself bah finishing tha job…but ta do that ah need a little information."

Sighing was Rogue's response to Sage's words, as the spy stayed loyal; "I won't talk. I'm afraid that I will not betray Charles that way…"

Rogue froze at the name, knowing whom it was referring to but her lack of movement went unnoticed, as did her increased desire for knowledge, "_then ah'll have ta get it mah own way_." Murmured she before speaking in a commanding voice as the woman hauled Sage to her feet, "fun ahn games is ovah."

If Rogue was right, her previous attacks on Sage's mental blocks would have distinctly weakened them so much that by breaking through them it would not kill the woman; Sage was still Rogue's birthday present and she wouldn't let her go that easily. Risk. That was what Rogue was taking as she planted both hands firmly on either side of Sage's head, staring the woman directly in the eye.

And as Tessa made to look away she realised it was too late; Rogue's psyche was already hacking away at her mind…

VvVvVvV

_**Tessa's Mind**_

Fists punched at the metal wall, towering over the woman, looming threateningly as her fists started once again to break the barrier. Rogue stayed calmly resolute, concentration encompassing her. Ignorance of the fire that burst from every direction at her was due to time – the longer she stayed in Sage's mind, the weaker sage would be.

This had to be quick work…or Sage would fall fate to her own defences.

Cracks split through the metal wall that gradually flickered, before changing entirely; now when Rogue's fists hit the wall they met a rough, rockier surface of bricks. A brick wall. Clanking sounded throughout the place, echoing loudly as Rogue charged up; combining gift after gift that she encompassed from her own head – mixing her psyches. Piotr Rasputin's scowling face flickered over Rogue's momentarily before switching to Carol Danver's before both turned into Rogue's again: signalling which psyches she was combining with her own.

Bricks tumbled and fell, the wall collapsing in on itself as Rogue broke through.

Once again, flickering images of other people cast themselves over Rogue's face; Jean Grey's turned to Betsy Braddock's before giving way to Rogue's own face as the woman shielded herself from the bricks cascading down to earth by use of a combined telekinetic shield.

Glass was now her only barrier. A mirror that showed a young brunette, a strip of white stark again the auburn colour, vivid in the cloudy, murky grey storm that was Sage's mind. Her pale face smirked as a figure loomed behind, and Rogue turned to her second to last opponent – Sage's own psyche. Weak and stumbling, the woman still attempted to protect her own mind from the attack coming. This was one step further now than ever before. Preparing to go that further inch was Rogue's determination and she would not let Sage stop her.

With a single punch, backed up by metallic bones and skin from a combination of Logan, Lexa and Piotr, Rogue sent Tessa flying – landing in a heap not far away; heavy breathing the only signal of life.

And taking the similar abilities in her stride, Rogue took several steps back, turning to look pityingly towards Sage before she turned, her eyes now narrowed – rage etched deep into her soul as the girl let out an almighty roar. Taking two running steps forward, she lifted from the ground; shooting with lightning speed towards the glass mirror, which shattered around her as Rogue dived through it…into Tessa's mind.

Looking around at the blackness, Rogue ducked unnecessarily as right in front of her, she watched a figure thrown effortlessly into a brick wall. Tessa collapsed in a heap in her own mind before dying away, the image simply shadows and ghostly forms mingling in memories.

Re-enacted all around her were moments in Sage's life and when Rogue took a step forward light burst, brightening the place as though a switch had been turned on. Solid figures fought at each other in the rain; a woman fired a shot at a girl who flew back before disappearing into darkness, her blood disappearing before it almost hit another girl; a younger Sage, walking beside a man situated in a wheelchair. Stepping forward, Rogue made to listen in but as she drew out a hand to touch the man so familiar, Charles Xavier became darkness. And when Rogue drew back her hand, nothing was there.

"TOUCH NOTHING." Boomed a voice through Sage's mind – the woman herself calling to Rogue, commanding her respect, "LOOK ONLY FOR WHAT YOU SEEK. FIND YOUR MEMORY AND LEAVE."

Turning her head to attempt to see the owner of the voice, Rogue only saw more memories far above her, piled high upon each other: figures floating miles up, stretching ever upwards, ordered through Sage's years. Although she had been in minds before, never had Rogue witnessed one so complicatedly organised, although it must have made sense to Sage…seeming as the woman managed to pull thoughts and memories out so quickly.

But yet as she studied faces around her, things began to make sense – it was like a spiral…only, a spiral of time: as it got smaller, Sage got younger until at the top no doubt you would find the first moments of Tessa's memory. Possibly even her birth date it the telepath could recall it.

And so Rogue searched, using gifts to climb the floor-less spiral, flying upwards until, suddenly she saw familiar people and the memory she was looking for.

Two young girls, younger than her by several years but mature in their obvious teenage years, accompanied two older men; the girls obviously excited by their giggling and endless chatter whilst both men eyed each other. One in exasperation, as though wondering if it was really necessary and the other…the other's face Rogue could not see…she could see none of their faces. Only expressions described by their body language. But as she ran infront attempting to catch a glimpse of the faces she knew yet could not remember, darkness enshrouded their features…

Flashing in the depths of the ebony black, Rogue could only make out two red dots that seemed to gaze – unseeing, unknowing – straight into her soul. But they too disappeared as the foursome turned into a doorway, wooden oak that she could recall so fondly from years ago that closed in on her.

Now only voices through the door could she hear as another figure approached, footsteps so deft and soft, Rogue was not aware of the girl's presence until she stood beside her. Blood-red hair was unrecognisable to the woman and yet – seeming, as she was nowhere else to be seen – Rogue knew this must be Tessa. And it was; the fact made known by the notepad in hand.

Voices talked and giggled whilst Sage noted everything down…and at the end of it all when she whisked carefully down the page for useful information, Tessa closed the book with a snarl. Having heard it all, Rogue knew the information to be worthwhile but useless. Or so she thought.

Disappearing into the room opposite on the corridor, Sage hid – waiting for the return of the four, but yet, when Amara and John reappeared, the latter attempting to hide his annoyance at the younger mutant's continual flirtation, Remy and Jubilee were nowhere in sight.

Stepping back into the corridor, Sage stepped up to the doorway and listened as the Cajun charmed the younger girl; peering at them through a crack in the doorway. Able to see the two now that Tessa could, Rogue stepped through the door that held no barrier for her and walked into the room; her presence unknown by neither Remy nor Jubilee.

Practised, Remy's charming was easy – his empathy playing tricks with Jubilee's thoughts so that she didn't even know she was talking. And he got a lot out of the girl…a lot that Rogue could not hear.

"SAGE!" Rogue bellowed as Jubilee's mouth opened and closed in her non-stop talking, without any sounds emitting from it. The lack of sound was due to the woman who's voice echoed inside her own head.

"HER WORDS ARE NOT FOR YOUR EARS. YOUR TIME IS UP."

And Rogue let out a roar of a yell as her concentration broke; allowing Sage the time to give the girl one hell of a punch in the face – knocking her psyche out of Tessa's head and the real Rogue to the floor.

Rogue returned the favour, sending the weakened Sage flying backwards into a wall before the angered mutant called an end to the simulation and stormed from the room.

What she came for, Rogue had got – Jubilee was too well protected to gain information from, but only she and Sage knew about Remy's knowledge of the information…the man was out in the open. A sitting duck just waiting for Rogue.

Rogue would find Carol Danvers…even if it meant going through Remy Lebeau.

**End of Chapter**

I hope you liked! Sorry it took so long but I can guarantee something to cheer everyone up; ROMY NEXT CHAPTER! Leave a review if ya don't mind lol! Ta.


	22. Apologies

Apologies:

Apologies:

This is _**thriller**_, and I would like to make an extreme apology to all of my wonderfully patient readers and reviewers.

Lately, I have not been updating and my mind is a mess; words cannot be expressed to explain how painful this writer's block is because FanFiction is a means by which I can just let go and write by my own personal judgement. Yet, writer's block it is. Earlier today I simply attempted to write a paragraph of this story and no inspiration came to mind, it has taken me months to attempt to write more but I have failed you all as an author.

This is not a goodbye; this is only an apology:

I am extremely sorry, and to the depths of my mind I will go to search for inspiration. I lack excuses to make up for my block and can only say that I hope to get over it as soon as possible for not only my sake, but for everyone reading this message!

Thank you for your patience, you have all been so wonderful to keep with me for this long and I hope that when (not _if_; **when**) the next chapter goes up you will still be waiting to read it

.x.thriller.x.


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